Pokemaster Lina
by Knight of L-sama
Summary: [COMPLETE] A 10-year-old Lina Inverse competes in the Indigo League on a quest for powerful pokemon to add to her collection. A PokemonSlayers x-over Please R&R!
1. FIERY Start

A/N: Hmm… You know what?  I thought it over, and I realized that my previous Pokemon story was probably best as is.  Unfortunately, I lost all trace of those stories when my computer crashed.  So, I'll try to recreate from memory.  Oh, this is a Slayers crossover with Pokemon (Slayers characters as "kids" in the Pokemon world).  Please don't forget to review at the end of the chapter.  Oh and if you want to know why I'm posting this in the Slayers page, the answer's simple: More Slayers fans know about Pokemon than vice-versa.  So I'm playing to strengths.

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon or Slayers or anything else that isn't mine to own.

**Pokemaster Lina:**

Ch1: Getting off to a  
**FIREY START**

            It was a typical peaceful morning.  The sun was shining, the birds were chirping, and it seemed as if nothing but nature was awake at the moment, until. . .

**"LINA INVERSE!!! GET YOUR SCRAWNY BUTT DOWN HERE FOR BREAKFAST BEFORE I HAVE TO COME UP AND MAKE IT!!!"**

            The birds singing on the trees in the lane just outside of this two-story house flew away in their usual startled manner.  The Lina Inverse in question had jumped so high out of bed that she smacked headfirst into the ceiling eight feet above her bed.  With the wind knocked out of her, she floated back down onto her well-cushioned bed, now with an impact-flattened nose.  But she had no time to brood over this.

Lina dashed to the bathroom and hurriedly fixed her hair before going back to her room and getting everything ready for her long journey ahead of her.  She didn't have much left to do since she had already been up three hours – since five – out of pure excitement.  Lina simply put on her favorite medieval cape (recently washed) that contained secret compartments packed with all of her traveling essentials.  Lina was about to run out of the bedroom when she glimpsed her reflection in her full-length mirror and decided to make sure that everything was in place.

Lina's outfit was simple, to say the least.  She wore a yellow shirt with the sleeves rolled up and tight pink pants.  Clasped around her neck was a golden chain that connected and hooked her cape behind her.  Around her waist was her pokeball belt that would eventually be holding her team of six new pokemon.  Yes, Lina was beginning her pokemon journey in the Kanto region today.

            **"LINA!! I'M GIVING YOU FIVE SECONDS TO GET DOWN HERE!! FIVE!  FOUR!! . . ."**

            With a frightened yelp, Lina raced outside her room and down the banister, rushing to the breakfast table.  She had just made it because half a second before Lina sat down, her /sister/ had called out, "ONE."

            Giving Lina a look of hopeless disdain, Luna Inverse set down a five-course breakfast that included several helpings of eggs (scrambled and sunny-side-up and boiled all separately), bacon strips, pancakes (with syrup and butter), French toast, Frosted Flakes cereal, and of course, jugs of milk and orange juice.  To the average person, this might seem like a whole lot for just one person's meal, but for Lina, it was just enough.

            Luna gave Lina just one word of command before walking back into the kitchen, "Eat."

            Lina didn't need a second bidding.  She gobbled up the food as fast as she could swallow it.  If one didn't look closely, it would seem as if she was /inhaling/ her food.  Within five minutes, Lina had finished and was patting her stomach contentedly.  At that precise moment, Luna walked back in and looked from the plates to Lina.  "Finished?"

            Lina nodded and lazily murmured, "Yeah."

            "What was that?" Luna questioned dangerously.

            Lina sat up straight and looked right at Luna and automatically answered, "Yes, Luna.  Thank you for breakfast."

            Luna nodded.  As she stacked and picked up the licked-clean dishes, Luna monotonously said, "You have exactly ten minutes to brush your teeth, wash your face, and get over to Professor Oak's lab before you're late.  Go."

            Lina's eyes opened wide in amazement, but she took her older sister's word for it.  She sprinted up the stairs again and into the bathroom.  After finishing up there, she took a quick look in her room to make sure that she hadn't forgotten anything.  Without even realizing it, she had cleaned up her usually spectacularly messy room earlier that morning while jumping around with excitement.  Her room showed just how obsessed with fire Lina was.  On the walls were posters of fire pokemon that she owned, which was quite a lot; her alarm clock was in the form of a Charmander holding a clockface that had a faded ball of fire in the background; most of Lina's clothes in her closet were either red or black – the color of fire and ashes; and that was only half of it.  Even though she wasn't officially a trainer yet, she already had several dozens of pokemon, mostly fire-type, under her control.  But since she didn't have any of them with her – they were all at her home-island of Zephilia, about 200 miles off the coast of Pallet town, where she was now – she didn't mind starting her official pokemon journey with a new pokemon.

            Shaking her head from the memory of them, Lina ran back down the steps, slipped on her black traveling boots, hurriedly bid Luna farewell, and was out the door with a rushed slam.  It was unfortunate that her house was at least a mile away from the lab, since her house wasn't in the actual town of Pallet, but she made it in record timing.  Resting momentarily, Lina stopped at the doorstep.  Slowly the door opened in front of her, before she had time to knock or even ring the doorbell.  Standing in the doorway was Prof. Oak, in the flesh.

            Prof. Oak seemed very surprised to see Lina on his doorstep.  "Why Lina, what brings /you/ here so early in the morning?"

            Upon catching her breath, Lina stood up and raised an eyebrow.  "Isn't it time to get my starting pokemon so I can begin my journey?"

            Prof. Oak blinked in puzzlement for a few moments.  Then his face lit up and he laughed out loud.  Lina visibly retorted at this.  "I'm sorry, it's just that I changed the time from eight to nine.  Didn't Luna tell you. . .?"

            Lina's mistake suddenly dawned on her and she let out a sigh.  "She probably received the memo, but then threw it away and didn't tell me so that I would come early."

            "That's perfectly all right.  You're here now - early, but here.  Would you like to come in and help me feed the pokemon their breakfast?"

            Lina's eyes lit up with glee.  "Sure!  Can we visit the fire pokemon first?"

            Prof. Oak chuckled knowingly as Lina walked in and he closed the door behind her.  "Of course, of course.  Why not?"

            After Prof. Oak picked up the food, they set out back and headed right, towards the makeshift volcano – home to the fire pokemon in Prof. Oak's laboratory property.  Lina ran ahead with glee and was met with the happy growls and sounds from the conscious pokemon there.  Lina kneeled down by a rock and was immediately surrounded by her adoring group of pokemon.  This included Ponyta, Rapidash, Growlithe, Arcanine (Only one), Vulpix, and Ninetales (Only one).  None of them were really trained, but all of them accepted Lina as a close friend, even though none of them were actually caught by her.  She happily fed them food and watched the pups play together.  Before long, a small Growlithe limped toward her, whimpering.

            "Grithe, what's wrong?"

            "Growlithe growl lithe. (He bit me and took my bone)"

            Mildly concerned, Lina asked, "Who bit you?"

            Growlithe jerked his head towards a sturdy little Growlithe, with markings under his eyes, that was playing with a clean-picked bone.

            Grithe muttered, "Growl…(The new kid…)"

            Lina ruffled Grithe's fur on top of his head as she stood up.  "I'll take care of him, don't worry."  She confidently walked over to the troubling Growlithe and stopped in front of him, hands on her hips.

            The little Growlithe looked up at her with menacing eyes, usually not seen on one so young.  It growled softly.  ("Whaddya want?")

            Lina rolled her eyes and crouched down, matching his stare.  "You obviously don't know how things work around here.  Don't bully my pokemon friends, or you'll answer to me, got it?  Now go give back his bone and apologize.

            The Growlithe turned his head and let out what sounded remarkably like an absurd snort. "(Me?  Apologize to /that/ git?  He can't even defend himself.)"

            Lina rolled her eyes.  "He's not a git – he's a pup.  He isn't /expected/ to defend himself.  You say he's basically defenseless, but I'm guessing you probably couldn't survive a minute against even a Tentacool."

            The Growlithe looked up at Lina in startled surprise.  Uneasily, he asked, "(You…You understand what I'm saying?!)"

            As if it was a crazy idea to ever doubt her, Lina answered with a smirk, "Of course I can, but I'm the only one.  So that means if I ever catch wind that you even so much as push one of my friends, I'll punish you myself.  Understand?"

            Looking at the ground, the Growlithe nodded and picked up the bone he had dropped mid-conversation.  Lina watched as he slowly trudged over to Grithe and dropped the bone again at his feet.  He also mumbled an apology before walking away under a low rock overhang.

            Just then Prof. Oak walked up to Lina and asked, "What was that all about?"

            As Lina stood up again, still watching the troublemaking Growlithe, she answered, "Oh it was nothing much.  Grithe and another pup over there were playing around.  Then that Growlithe took the bone that they were playing with.  Grithe told me and I set the Growlithe straight.  He gave back the bone, apologized, and then settled down for a nap.  Nothing to it."

            Prof. Oak stared at her, astonished.  "I believe that you are the first person, that I know of, to be able to converse with pokemon."

            Lina shook her head and corrected him.  "Not all pokemon.  Only fire-types.  But if I get a particularly friendly fire-type pokemon, he/she can translate for me, so I suppose I could, indirectly."

            Prof. Oak smiled and shook his head in disbelief.  He glanced at his watch, which read 8:15 AM.  "What do you say we try to feed the rock and electric types before going in?"

            Lina shrugged.  "Sure."  To her pokemon friends she waved and said, "Bye, my lovely fire-types!  I have to go now, but I'll try to visit you as soon as I can!"

            They all looked sad to see her go, but they had to accept it.  With Lina's help, Prof. Oak managed to finish feeding the rock and electric types.  Just as Lina finished feeding the last Voltorb, Prof. Oak glanced at his watch again.  He jumped in amazement when he saw that it read: 8:56 AM.  He told Lina that the others were supposed to come soon, and that they seemed too far away from the main house to make it in time.  Lina told him not to worry as they both climbed out of the Electric pit.

She put two fingers to her mouth and let out a loud, shrill whistle.  It seemed as if only those who were meant to hear it actually heard it, because the Voltorbs and Electrodes didn't explode from being startled so much.  Moments later, a pair of grown-up Ponytas came galloping towards them at top speed.  When Lina put her hands up as if to stop them, they skidded to a perfect halt and stood still directly in front of them.  Lina told Prof. Oak to ride one of the Ponytas back as she easily swung a leg over one of the Ponyta.  The other Ponyta helped Prof. Oak up by nudging him and soon they were galloping back towards the house.  They reached the house just as the doorbell rang distantly.  Prof. Oak hurriedly rushed to answer as Lina gave each of the Ponyta treats for helping them.  Then she smacked both of their flanks so that they sprinted back to their volcanic habitat.  Lina walked into the house to go find Prof. Oak.

            She found him in the front room, still greeting the newest arrival.  Prof. Oak turned and upon seeing Lina, introduced them.  "Ah!  Lina, come over here.  This is erm.. Naga the White Serpent you said?"

            "OH HO HO HO HO HO Yes!  I am called Naga the White Serpent!"

            From the moment Lina met her, she had a feeling that she would be trouble.

            Prof. Oak nervously continued.  "Yes erm.. Naga this is Lina Inverse.  Lina, this is Naga."

            Lina stepped back a bit, but nervously said, "Hi. . ."

            Before Naga could laugh (that hideous laugh *shudder*) again, Gary came down the stairs.  He seemed mildly annoyed.  "What's all the racket?"  He caught sight of Lina first.  "Oh, here already, Lina?  Who made that annoying laugh . . .?  It couldn't be you . . ."

            Lina chuckled slightly and pointed an uneasy finger at Naga.

            Just from the look of her, Gary turned a bit blue with dread as well.  Naga was wearing a skimpy looking spaghetti-strap black shirt (that showed a good portion of her stomach) and a pair of short shorts.  She seemed much taller and broader than normal for her age, but Lina didn't question it (she wasn't exactly normal height). Naga also had very long black hair.

            Lina looked around and counted heads.  She asked Prof. Oak, "Oi, Professor Oak, how many people are supposed to come today?"

            "Hmm? Well, four including You, Gary, N-naga and who's left? Oh yes, Ash."

            Gary snorted.  "Ash Ketchum?  That /loser's/ getting a pokemon?"

            Prof. Oak gave Gary a disapproving look.  "Yes, but he's late."

            Lina started jumping up and down with impatience.  She started to whine, "Aw, Prof. Can't we get our pokemon first?  I can't wait for this Ashy boy, whoever he is.  I want my pokemon /now/."

            Eyeing Lina wearily, Gary also asked, "Come on Gramps.  Let us get our pokemon.  I'll wait afterwards for Ashy boy to come down here.  I don't think /any/ of us want to see Lina lose her temper."

            Prof. Oak gave in with a sigh.  "Oh, all right.  Follow me then."

            Prof. Oak led them to a crowded gray room and showed them the pokeballs.  He pointed to each of them as he said, "The one marked with a single flame is the Charmander, the water drop is the Squirtle, and the last one was supposed to be a Bulbasaur, but I'm saving it for someone.  Whoever gets the unmarked ball will have a surprise.  Then there's the Pikachu, but it isn't trained yet since I just caught it yesterday."

            Lina immediately made her choice while jumping up and down excitedly.  "I want the flame!  I want Charmander!"

            Naga, apparently deciding something else as well, chose next.  "I'll choose Squirtle.  Lina Inverse!  I have the advantage over you!"

            Lina rolled her eyes and muttered, "Yeah right, maybe in a million years or so."

            With a sigh, Gary chose the unmarked ball.  "I guess I'll choose this one then."

            Gary opened his pokeball to see what he got.  To his vast surprise, it was an Eevee.  "What the, why do I get the cutesy pet one?"

            Lina half-heartedly comforted him.  "Aw come on.  Eevees are great.  They can evolve into one of three different pokemon.  I like Flareon."

            Gary returned Eevee to its ball and glanced sideways at Lina.  Sarcastically, he muttered, "You would."

            Prof. Oak handed each of them a Pokedex and 6 Pokeballs.  He wished them all luck on their journey.  After putting away her pokeballs, Lina was the first to leave.  "Well then, if there's nothing else, I'll be going now.  Bye Prof. Oak.  Bye Gary!  See you when I see you!"

            With that, she skipped out of the house and towards the road.  Since she didn't really know either of them, Naga simply said, "Bye" before rushing off to follow Lina.

            Just on the outskirts of town, Naga spotted Lina on a hillside, looking at a map, and comparing it to the nearby landscape.  Naga crept up behind Lina and tried to look at the map.  However, Lina had noticed her and turned so that she couldn't.  Naga tried again, but was once more rejected.  On the third try, Lina turned around, moved the map from her view of Naga and simply asked, "What?"

            "Let's try out our pokemon in a battle!"

            Lina nonchalantly put the map in front of her face again and said, "No.  Maybe later – I'm busy."

            Naga tried to pull down the map as she demanded, "Let's battle!"

            Lina eyed her strangely, and then smirked.  "I have a better idea.  You are aware of the Pokemon league, yes?"

            Naga had heard of the Pokemon League, but she had never learned what it was exactly.  In any case, she nodded as if she did.

            "Then let's do this – We'll each win the necessary 8 badges to compete in the tournament, and then if you make it, we'll battle at the Indigo Plateau afterwards, deal?"

            "What do you mean if /I/ make it?!  What about you?  Do /you/ think you have what it takes to win 8 times?"

            Lina smirked again.  "I bet I can do better than that, and get more pokemon too."

            Having her competitive spirit worked up, Naga declared, "You're on!  Indigo Plateau a year from now!"  They shook on it and Naga sprinted off, trying to get a head start.  Lina watched her go off into the distance, and let out an exasperated sigh.  Slowly, Lina unhooked her newest pokeball (pokemon) from her belt and held it out in front of her.  She found a low stump and walked over to it.  Lina sat down, still looking at the flame on top of her pokeball.  Finally, Lina released Charmander.

A/N: So…..What do you think?  Do you like?  Will you review?  Please?  Most of you should know how it works, right?  In "R&R" first you read, then you review.  Well, if you're reading this part, then you've already read the first chapter of **Pokemaster Lina**.  Now, it's your turn: Please review a question, comment, suggestion, and or selective criticism.  But please don't flame me, or I'll have Lina take care of you with her pokemon.  ^_^  Please review, ok?  Thanks for your time!  Bye!


	2. Fire is as Fire BURNS

A/N: Aww… Only one review.  Oh wellz, thanks for the review!  I'll try to make this as good as I can, but just so you know, my attention is very split right now.  On with chapter two!  Please Review!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything that isn't mine to own.

Ch2: Fire is as Fire BURNS 

Training with Lina

            Charmander heeded Lina's silent call and came out of the pokeball onto her lap.  Lina smiled warmly at it and stroked its head and back while she spoke.  Charmander seemed to like it quite a bit.

            Lina calmly told Charmander, "I know we're not battling anyone or any pokemon right now, but I called you out so that we could have a little chat."

            At this, Charmander opened its eyes that it had lazily closed, cocked his head to one side, and only murmured a questioning "Char? (Chat?)"

            Lina nodded.  "That's right, a chat.  First things, first; I'm going to give you a nickname so that whenever I'm telling you something, I don't have to say 'Charmander'.  For one thing, it's very informal and for another, it's much too long.  So I'm going to shorten it to 'Pyro'.  How's that?"

            Charmander blinked his big, blue eyes at Lina before slowly nodding, and then enthusiastically once he really caught the drift.

            Lina went on.  "Alright, Pyro.  The next subject is training.  Back at home, I raised pokemon without actually catching them.  I practiced having them learn special techniques in order to catch opponents off guard.  Now that I have pokeballs and am an official trainer, I plan to do the same with all of my top pokemon – including you.  Of course, this means you'll have to do special training, but when we're through, you'll be able to do attacks never before seen by a very good percentage of people, trainers and non alike.  How does that sound?  Do you want to grow strong and powerful and eventually into a Charizard?"

            At the last part, Pyro was much enthused and even accompanied his vigorous nod with a, "Char, Char! (Yes, Of course!)"

            Lina grinned at this and picked Pyro up off her lap.  "Alright then.  The first step to regular training is battling slightly weaker wild pokemon.  What attacks do you know right now?"

            Pyro seemed to be thinking before he answered, "Charmander, Char Char (Scratch and Growl I think)".

            Lina sighed.  "The best attack ideas won't work until you at least learn Ember, a fire attack.  But for now, show me your 'claws'."

            Pyro held out his two little arms, each with a set of three very dull little nubs that looked like it could belong to a small dog.  Lina sat him down again and examined them.  She 'tsk'ed and shook her head.  Then she rummaged through her cape as she said, "You must be pretty young still.  Probably haven't even been in a battle yet."

            Pyro answered, "Char Char, Charmander Char man, Char Char (I'm only a 5, of course I haven't been in a battle.)"

            Lina nodded and continued after finally pulling something out of her cape.  She held it up in front of Pyro; it was a sort of nail file, apparently.  Lina took one of Pyro's arms and started sharpening Pyro's small claws by filing both sides so that the end became more pointed.  She told Pyro stories of the Pokemon World so that he wouldn't be too surprised upon seeing new things.  Lina told him about Team Rocket, and how trainers can leave home to be trainers at age 10, about various pokemon, just about anything she could think of until she was finished with the filing.  It took about two hours, but neither of them really noticed.  Now Pyro's claws were little triangles, and about three times as effective as before.  Finally setting Pyro on the ground and standing up herself, Lina realized that her legs had fallen asleep from staying in the same position for too long.  She gestured for Pyro to walk alongside her on the road as she loosened up her legs again.

            Since it was now nearly noon, Lina and her new pokemon stopped to have a picnic lunch.  As of yet, they had not encountered any other pokemon.  Well, they did see Pidgey and Spearow, but Lina didn't think it would be a good idea for her rookie Pyro to go against a flying pokemon just yet.  Lina looked at a map, and saw that they still had about 5 miles until the next town.  Lina figured that they could walk it before nightfall, so after cleaning up their little picnic, they set off on the road once more.  When they were fairly close to the town – about a mile, Lina spotted another Spearow, but this one seemed much stronger than the others – either that or extremely pompous for no reason whatsoever.  Lina decided that Pyro should have at least one battle before reaching the next town, so she declared a challenge to the Spearow.

            Lina told Pyro to run as fast as it could towards Spearow and scratch it.  He tried – he was pecked.  Lina said to try a jump kick, but Spearow dodged it and pecked him again.  Lina was starting to get annoyed.  She told Pyro to try whatever it took to win.  Pyro attacked with another jump kick quickly followed by a Scratch attack.  The kick missed, but the Scratch hit the Spearow's wing in a way that made it impossible for the bird pokemon to fly away.  Pyro took this chance to double Scratch him with his newly sharpened claws.  Spearow was knocked out.  Lina quickly caught the Spearow in a Pokeball.  When it stopped struggling, she went over and congratulated Pyro on his first win and on helping her capture her first pokemon.  Lina then picked up the now occupied pokeball and attached it back on her belt.

            During the battle, Lina had pulled out a strange contraption that looked extremely similar to a Gameboy except it had a telephone number pad (complete with the letters above the numbers.)  Above the screen, instead of saying, "Gameboy", it read, "Statidex".  When she used it, it was easy to tell what it was used for.  A device similar to the Pokedex, it told the stats of whatever living life form, pokemon and humans alike, it was pointed to.  What the number pad is used for, was still a mystery to many.  Anyway, Lina had pointed the Statidex at the Spearow.  Lina scrolled down the screen to view all the information as a female pokedex-like description was voiced.  This is what she read:

Name: Spade

Race: Pokemon

Species: Spearow

Type: Normal/Flying

Height: 1' 1"

Weight: 5 lbs.

Area: Viridian City

Level: 5

Attacks:

-Peck

-Growl

Levels to Evolution: 15

Status: Wild

Overall Grade: A

            This information was what intrigued Lina enough to capture Spearow.  He would be useful for Lina's plans.

            After the battle, Lina challenged Pyro to a race.  She told him that the next town was about a mile away from where they were, and it would be good exercise.  Pyro accepted.  They got back on the road, and the goal was the welcome sign at Viridian.  Get Ready, get set, GO!

            For a pokemon, Pyro ran pretty fast.  Of course, he was on all fours and had youthful zest.  Lina had obviously longer legs, but she was used to running.  In order to make sure that she didn't lose Pyro, she only ran a little in front of him, even though she knew she could run much faster.  When the goal was in sight, both of them automatically sped up.  Of course, Lina won the race, but Pyro wasn't that far behind.  Lina picked up Pyro and went over to the Pokemon center.  She promised that after Pyro and her new Spearow were healed, she would treat them to dinner.  This made Pyro happy, so he obediently let Nurse Joy take him to heal.

While she was waiting, she headed over to the lobby.  She saw her favorite magazine (Double Trouble News) and sat down to read it.  There was a new article that posted the best of the most recent ideas on how to use pokemon to make money.  There were the usual things for festivals and shows and such, but Lina didn't care for it.  About half an hour later, Nurse Joy came with her now healed pokemon.  She thanked Nurse Joy and went to the phones to check in with Prof. Oak.

"Ah!  Lina!  How was your first day as a pokemon trainer?"

"It's going pretty well.  I'm at the Viridian Pokecenter.  I would have arrived sooner, but I took a detour to file my Charmander's nails."

Prof. Oak sweatdropped slightly.  "File his nails?  You mean, so that they're prettier?"

Lina vigorously shook her head.  "No!  To make them sharper!"  Lina released Pyro and put him on her lap in front of the screen.  She held up Pyro's arms so that the claws pointed up.

"See?"

Prof. Oak chuckled nervously and changed the subject.  "Did you catch any new pokemon?"

"Yup! ^_^  I caught a Spearow.  I would have caught a Pidgey or a Rattata, but I figured that I'd wait a bit to find stronger ones.  Besides, I already have the best pokemon there is ^_^"

"Yes, well, Gary came to the same Pokecenter about two hours before you, and that Naga came an hour before that.  They both caught a Pidgey."

Lina grinned, "Well if the trainer's different, their outcome will be different."

"How right you are."

"Did that whats-his-name Ash boy call in yet?"

"I'm afraid not.  He should have reached Viridian by now though."

"I'll keep a watch out for him.  I'm staying the night.  Well, I have to go now- I promised my pokemon that I'd treat them to dinner."

Prof. Oak smiled and nodded.  "I wish I had your help back here.  Feeding all these pokemon is so tiring.  Well, my tofu's done as well.  I wish you luck on your journey."

Lina nodded.  "Thanks.  Enjoy your dinner!  I'll keep in touch!"

Prof. Oak and Lina hung up at nearly the same exact time.  Lina went back into the cafeteria with her new Spearow on her shoulder and Charmander in her arms.  The Chansey there knew her very well and brought back Lina's normal order.

About another hour later, a young, messy black-haired trainer came running in carrying an injured pokemon – a Pikachu apparently – in his arms.  He was positively soaked and dirty from head to toe.

            Lina finished her last plate and went over to the corner to watch what happened.  She was just in time to overhear, Nurse Joy telling Officer Jenny, "We /do/ have a driveway, you know."

"Well, sorry about that," Officer Jenny replied, "but this is a sick pokemon, please do what you can."

Nurse Joy agreed.  "Right, but next time use the driveway."

Officer Jenny left and Nurse Joy turned to the trainer.  "Now let's take care of this Pikachu, you irresponsible young man."

Apparently, the boy didn't know what Nurse Joy meant with the last part.  "What?"

Nurse Joy explained, "You shouldn't let a pokemon battle until it's in this condition."

The young trainer insisted, "But, you don't know what happened."

Nurse Joy didn't seem to really care what happened.  "No buts, you'll have to stay in the waiting room while we take care of this Pikachu."

A Chansey came and wheeled off the Pikachu on a silver cart used especially for pokemon.  Nurse Joy followed Chansey and Pikachu into the infirmary.

The young boy waited in the waiting room for a while before going to the vid-phone booths.  While he was sitting, Lina pointed the Statidex at the trainer and read:

Name: Ash Ketchum

Race: Human (Even she knew that)

Hometown: Pallet Town

Height: 4' 9"

Weight: 90 lbs.

Pokemon:

Pikachu (Lv. 6)

-Thundershock

-Growl

Overall Grade: C

Status: Newbie

# of Badges: 0

Voice-Over: Ash Ketchum is a beginning trainer from Pallet Town at age 10.  He tends to make rash decisions and rely on gut instincts both inside and outside of battles.  His goal is to become a pokemon master.

Lina sighed.  She decided to go to Nurse Joy and lend some help.  Lina had been to Viridian many times, enough for Nurse Joy to know that Lina could be trusted with the injured pokemon and that every so often, Lina lent some help.

            She knocked on the infirmary door, where Nurse Joy and Pikachu were in, and announced herself.  Nurse Joy said to come in and she did, closing the door behind her.  Lina watched as Nurse Joy patched Pikachu up.  Lina looked around at the other pokemon.  Actually, there were no other pokemon in that room.  Lina asked if she could be of help.

            "Actually, this Pikachu is more hurt than I thought.  You wouldn't happen to have one of your special potions, would you?"

            Lina answered, "Of course, I just left home today for my pokemon journey.  What size?"

            "Hmm.. A super potion would do it."

            "Okay, hold on."  Lina rummaged through her cape again and took out a small vial with purple liquid inside.  She gave it to Nurse Joy who gently let Pikachu drink it.  Before, Pikachu seemed to be putting on a slight fever, but the moment that the liquid went down Pikachu's throat, all traces of it disappeared and Pikachu slept on happily and healed.  Nurse Joy thanked Lina and they went outside.  Lina decided that this would be a rather interesting little show, and watched the boy that she knew had to be Ash, from her own chair in the corner.  One should have noticed the bright glare of Pyro's tail, but they didn't look in that corner.  Before long, Pyro curled up and went to sleep.  Lina had long since returned Spade to his pokeball.

            Lina watched as a young redhead, charged into the Pokecenter and started yelling at Ash- something about a broken bike.  Then a big Meowth balloon crashed in from the roof and some duo with a talking Meowth was reciting some stupid motto, apparently.  They then stated that they wanted to steal all of the Pokemon at the Pokecenter.  Ash informed them that he'd never let them take Pikachu, but they didn't seem all that interested in a scrawny little pokemon (they had bigger ideas for bigger pokemon).  The male member of the duo ordered his Koffing to use an attack that extinguished all the lights.

            Anyway, Nurse Joy called out a legion of Pikachus that worked together on a machine that soon generated enough electricity to turn the lights back on.  Then Nurse Joy ran to the room with all of the stored pokemon, and Lina guessed that she was trying to transferring the pokemon. (Okay, now I'm just telling what happened in the second pokemon episode.  Sorry but I'm telling it like Lina's watch)  After a little while, they all came back out and Ash hopped onto this exercise bicycle and started pumping up his Pikachu with energy.  Eventually, his Pikachu let out a huge thunder-type attack that sent the potential thieves off into the quickly darkening sky.  Lina had to admit that she was pretty impressed – with the Pikachu.  Soon afterwards, Ash and that redhead bid farewell to Nurse Joy and they set off for the Viridian forest.  Lina yawned and said good night to Nurse Joy before turning in, and returned Pyro to his pokeball.  Tomorrow, they would start training again.

***The Next Morning***

            Lina was woken up by the sunlight coming in from the un-curtained window.  She yawned and stretched.  Lina walked out of her room and went to the cafeteria.  It was still fairly dark outside, so of course, no one else was awake.  Lina shrugged and decided to train in order to work up a sufficient appetite first.  She went to the pantry and took a few travel-friendly foods.  Before leaving, Lina left a note saying goodbye and that she took some food for her journey.  As a present, she also left a large flask of her special potion.  With that out of the way, Lina made her way outside and headed towards the Viridian Forest.  It would do no good if anyone saw her special training – early as it was.

            With her usual exercise, Lina reached the forest without even breaking a sweat.  She released Pyro and started to explain her schedule.  For minimal suspense value, I cannot tell you what Lina told Pyro, but I will let you have a small glimpse of the training.

            They walked until they were in a small clearing.  Lina stood back and released Spearow.  "First stage: Getting to a high enough level to use fire.  Pyro, spar with Spade.  Spade, don't back down as long as you still have energy.  Start!

            Well, let's just say, Spade the Spearow had a /lot/ of energy and Pyro had a fierce goal in mind.  The first stage didn't end until mid-morning, when the sun had already been up for at least an hour or so.  Lina knew it had ended when Pyro gave Spade the finishing blow with an Ember attack.  By now, Pyro was sweating and breathing hard while Spade was knocked out.  Lina quickly healed both of them.  Lina returned Spade to its pokeball and started the second stage by collecting a few large branches.  While she was doing this, she gave Pyro a treat along with his breakfast.

            "Second stage.  Accuracy and power.  Pyro, try to hit all of these branches separately while they are flying through the air.  You'll have to increase the strength of your flame to disintegrate some of them.  Ready?  Go!"

            Lina sent a barrage of five small branches into the air in front of Pyro.  He took a deep breath and launched a version of a fire spray that split into five flames and took out all five branches simultaneously.  Lina applauded and sent the next wave with slightly bigger and more sticks.  Pyro took another deep breath, breathed fire into his "paw" and slashed the ground in front of him.  The flame traveled on the surface straight towards the branches in the form of three lines or three claw marks.  The flames suddenly burst up in a circular pillar of fire, completely destroying the branches and singing the ground.  Lina smirked with approval and revealed a ball of leaves about the size of a grapefruit.  She told Pyro to try creating a ball of fire, similar to shape, to burn the ball.  Pyro nodded and sent the attack after Lina threw it into the air.  The plan worked perfectly; a ball of fire emitted from Pyro's mouth and it got bigger before it engulfed the ball of leaves.

            "Now that, is called a Fireball, okay?  When you split your flame into five separate attacks, in what I like to call arrows, that will be known as a Flare Arrow.  The attack that you channeled through the ground should be called, 'Mega Brand.' Understand?"

            Pyro plopped down on the ground, exhausted.  He nodded his understanding and made as if he were going to faint.  Lina hurriedly gave him another of her healing potions and gave him a treat.  Once finished, she stood up and gestured for Pyro to do the same. 

            "That's all the offense training today.  Now, we'll walk to give you exercise and to build up your muscles.  Try going at a brisk pace.  Alright?  Let's go."

            Lina walked deeper into the forest with Pyro by her side.  Soon, she stopped because she heard something.  Then, when the sound came again, Lina knew what it was.  They watched as a Caterpie came inching down a nearby tree.  Lina knew that Caterpie weren't at all hard to catch, so she just asked Pyro to Growl.  While Caterpie was caught by surprise, Lina used a pokeball to catch it.  Caterpie came without a struggle.  Certain girls don't like bug pokemon at all, but Lina knew what powerful potential they had when they were fully evolved, so she persevered.  Of course, Lina, too, had her dislikes.  Luckily, she hadn't seen them anywhere but on TV and in books.

            Lina and Pyro walked on.  A while later, they caught sight of a feeding Pidgey.  Lina scanned it with her Statidex.  It was only a level 4.  Nevertheless, Lina decided to use it to boost Pyro's experience.  She told Pyro to use a 'Mega Brand' attack.  The Pidgey tried to run away, but it was still caught in the flames.  It was knocked out.  Lina decided to just move on.

            Later, she caught sight of a Rattata, which was surprising since the Viridian forest was usually only home to bug-types, Pidgey, and the occasional Pikachu.  Lina scanned it.  It was wild and at Lvl. 6.  Lina decided to catch it just for the heck of it.  She called out Caterpie who was still a Lvl. 4.

            Rattata came running towards Caterpie for a Tackle attack.  Lina quickly ordered a String Shot.  Rattata's legs were lassoed and he couldn't use them to save his life.  Lina told Caterpie to String Shot his head as well.  Then she had Rattata finished with a Tackle attack.  Lina threw the Pokeball and Rattata hardly struggled.  As she was about to call back Caterpie, Lina found herself watching an evolution.  Before long, Caterpie was no longer with them; instead, there was a Metapod.  With a cheeky grin, Lina returned Metapod to her pokeball.  Lina and Pyro moved on, deeper into the Viridian Forest.

A/N: Okay, I should end here.  Did you like it?  In case I didn't say it before, I'll say it again: I don't own Pokemon and I don't own Slayers, just the way I linked the worlds.  I would have had Lina scan Misty (the redhead), but I decided to wait on that one.  Hmm… Let's see.  Lina now has a Charmander, Spearow, Metapod, and Rattata.  Well, please review!  Thank you for reading!

P.S. For those of you who read my regular Slayers stories, this has nothing to do with it- I'm just doing this for the pure fun of the possibilities.  Ja ne! (See ya!)


	3. Ready Aim FIRE!

A/N: Thanks for the review!  Are any of you readers wondering why I put this story in the Slayers section instead of Pokemon?  It's simple: More Slayers fan know about Pokemon than vice versa.  Besides, I think Slayers fans will find more humor in this fic.  Well enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not under any circumstances own anything that isn't mine to own, this includes Slayers and Pokemon.  Psst!  I'd hate to spoil it, but can you guess who the new gym leader for the /Boulder/ badge is? ^_^

Ch3: Ready, Aim, FIRE! Lina's First Kanto Badge 

            Lina found that the Viridian Forest was full of bug trainers and bugs.  It didn't take long for her to get annoyed by it all.  Really, bug trainers were challenging her left and right, and she would shoot them all down with just one fire attack from Pyro.  Near the end of the forest, she spotted a small lake.  With a shrug, she decided that she could do a little water target practice.  She released Pyro as she picked up an appropriate stick, plucked a piece of her sturdy hair, tied one end to the stick and one to a hook with her lure.  Ready, set, go!  Lina launched the hook into the water and waited.  Before long she felt a giant tug, but she tugged her end even more.  With a last heave, she managed to make her catch surface.  Not even waiting to see what it was, she had Pyro barbecue it Pokemon style.  It was only after the smoke cleared that she realized to an extent what she actually did.

            Instead of fireballing a potential opponent or meal (^_~ if only real fish existed in this world…), she had smoked a tall, blond-haired boy dressed in sky blue garb (-_- Anyone who's a Slayers fan should be able to realize who this is. . .).  She half pondered on whether she should help him out, but when he slowly started to sink, she made up her mind (a ten-year-old Lina isn't /that/ mean. . .).  She called out Butterfree and Pidgey and had them help to keep him surfaced and bring him closer so that she could help haul him onto the shore.  It didn't take too long for him to revive. . . 

            Lina pointed the Statidex at him and read away.

Name: Gourry Gabriev

Race: Human

Hometown: A town in Johto known as Elmekia (um… purely coincidental…)

Height: 5' 5"

Weight: 106 lbs.

Pokemon:

-Dewgong (Lv. 20)

-Scyther (Lv. 17)

Overall Grade: A-

Status: Skilled Trainer

# of Badges: 0

Voice-over: Gourry is a 13-year-old on a quest for adventure.  He may not be the smartest of the bunch, but his love of pokemon leaves him with a skill to be reckoned with.  Fortunately, he is usually very friendly.

            Lina watched as Gourry came back into consciousness.  When he sat up, she asked him, "Why were you in the lake?"

            "Huh?  Ummmmmm……"  Gourry appeared to be in deep thought.  Before long, he looked up with a bright look in his eyes.  "I don't know!"

            Lina sweatdropped.  She sighed and asked, "Well, the name's Lina.  Lina Inverse.  I gotta get to Pewter City now, so try not to fall in again.  See ya."

            "Wait!"

            Lina stopped and turned back to see that Gourry was standing up.  "Aren't you a bit too young to be out by yourself?  Where are your parents, little girl?"

            A stressmark appeared on Lina's head.  'Parents?  Little girl?'  Lina wasn't going to argue with him calling her a little girl, since she /was/ a little girl, but couldn't he see that she had pokemon meaning she was on a pokemon journey?  She told him.  "I'm traveling alone with just my pokemon."

            "Alone?  There are some really bad people out there, ya know."

            In a low voice, Lina said back, "I know, and I can take 'em."

            Gourry didn't hear this as he proclaimed, "I know!  I'll come with you and make sure you reach your destination safely!  Where are you headed?"

            Lina's eye twitched.  She had just said it, but she supposed her Statidex was never wrong… "Like I said before – I'm headed for Pewter City – to get a Boulder badge.  Now, look.  I-"

            Before Lina could object to Gourry's accompaniment, Gourry's mind was set.  He put a hand on Lina's shoulder and said, "Pewter City's not that far.  Come on, I'll treat you to lunch when we get there!  Oh, by the way, I'm Gourry Gabriev, a traveling pokemon trainer.  What's your name?"

            At this, Lina raised an eyebrow.  She never turned down free food…  "Lina.  Lina Inverse.  Let's go!"

            With that, Lina and her new-found friend set off for Pewter City.

            Gourry took Lina to a quaint little restaurant somewhere in the middle of town.  They both ordered extra large meals that made their waitress' eyes widen in amazement.  They fought over food until they were full and nothing was left.  Gourry paid the humongous bill, and they set off to find the Pokecenter, deciding to tackle the gym challenge after everyone was well rested.

            Lina had spent a total of 10 days training in the Forest, but when she got out, she was more than ready to face Brock, the Pewter City Gym Leader.  Little did she know, Brock had already left on his "quest" to become a Pokemon Breeder.  Lina now had a well-trained Charmander, Butterfree, Spearow, Pidgey, and Rattata, as well as a friend to watch her sure-fire win (she's just confident).  After a good night's rest at the Pewter City Pokecenter, Lina, armed with her pokemon, set forth for the Pewter City Gym, in order to get her Boulder Badge.

            Once she arrived, she took a deep breath and pushed open the large doors with a bang.

            "I am Lina Inverse from Pallet Town.  I hereby request a gym battle with the leader of this gym!"

            From the shadows, a figure stepped forward.  As the lights flashed on, Lina easily noted that the person was /not/ Brock.  His hair was a wiry purple, his skin had a bluish tint with several rocks randomly covering his body.  His eyes were a cold, sapphire-blue and he was completely adorned in khaki-colored clothes from head to toe.  Lina pulled out her Statidex with surprise and checked him.

Name: Zelgadis Greywerds

Race: 1/3 Human, 1/3 Golem (Pokemon), 1/3 Gyarados (Pokemon)

Hometown: N/A – Recently moved to Pewter City

Height: 5' 2"

Weight: N/A (Very much due to 2/3 heavy pokemon genes)

Pokemon:

Geodude (Lv. 14)

Graveler (Lv. 25)

Sandshrew (Lv. 12)

Overall Grade: A-

Status: Experienced Trainer

# of Badges: 1

Voiceover: Since his grandfather's experiment backfired, he has been looking for a cure to rid himself of his Pokemon counterparts.  Although the experiment left young Zelgadis with abnormal strength and understanding of Pokemon, he greatly despises his new appearance and perseveres until the day he can force his grandfather to undo it.

            Gourry pointed at him from behind Lina, "Hey, he looks funny."

            The gym leader put up his hood and a mask over the lower part of his face-hiding most of his "abnormality" out of view.  Lina ignored this and immediately started to get worried, an adjective that usually wasn't used to describe her.  She had backup if she absolutely needed it, but Lina hated to resort to it if she didn't have to.

            Zelgadis stated in a crisp, clear voice, "I accept your challenge as this gym's replacement leader.  Step into the trainer's box, and we will begin."

            As these words came out of his mouth, the area between the two trainer boxes mechanically changed to become a rocky battlefield.  Lina gulped.  Could she win?

            Before she had time to think it over, Zelgadis started. "Two on two pokemon battle.  The challenger is allowed to switch pokemon during a match.  Sandshrew.  Go. (No enthusiasm whatsoever…)"

            Lina grimaced but chose her first pokemon.  "Butterfree!  I choose you!"

            The gym leader's face was emotionless as he launched his first attack.  "Let the battle begin!  Sandshrew, use scratch attack."

            Lina quickly commanded, "Butterfree!  Use Whirlwind to blow him back!"

            "Dodge by going underground!  Attack from below!"

            The two pokemon did as they were told.  Butterfree's Whirlwind was ineffective as Sandshrew abandoned Scratch in favor of Dig.  Butterfree slowly flew above the field, awaiting his master's command.

            "Butterfree!  Rise higher and be ready to dodge when Sandshrew surfaces!"

            Butterfree made a consenting note and flew higher.  Sandshrew had yet to surface.

            Now grimacing with slight frustration, Zelgadis ordered Sandshrew, "When Butterfree comes around, come out and use your high jump scratch attack."

            Apparently, Butterfree was just flying over Sandshrew because Sandshrew suddenly jumped out of the ground, claws outstretched.  Thankfully, due to an intensive training session, Butterfree barely managed to dodge it, but the very tip of his left wing was hit, resulting in faltering flight.

            "Now!  Tackle attack it Butterfree!"

            Butterfree backed up for momentum and tackled Sandshrew 5 feet above the ground with such power that it made an imprint when his opponent landed, cushion only slightly by the thin layer of sand.

            Zelgadis hissed, "Try to get up. . ."

            Sandshrew was trying very hard to get up, but Lina wouldn't give him the chance.  "Butterfree!  Finish it with Confusion!"

            Psychic waves emitted from the rhythmic flapping of Butterfree's wings.  However, since Butterfree's left wing was hit, that psychic wave was a bit off target.  The other wing hit Sandshrew, but after a few moments, it could still stand while breathing hard.

Emotionlessly, Zelgadis told Sandshrew to use Rollout.  Upon hearing this, Lina told Butterfree to get out off the way.  Apparently, Butterfree's wing became more painful with each flap, because Butterfree was slowly losing aptitude.  Noticing the lack of flight, Lina told Butterfree to use Sleep Powder on her command.  When Sandshrew was at the peak of its jump, Lina told Butterfree to use it.  Butterfree was very weak now however, so most of the Sleep Powder didn't reach Sandshrew.  It did make it sneeze somehow, though.  Sandshrew stopped in midair to sneeze, and upon realizing that he was 70 inches off the ground, plummeted down without the help of wings.  Upon hitting the ground, Sandshrew was knocked out.  Butterfree landed soon afterwards, breathing very hard.

Zelgadis grimaced as he returned Sandshrew to its pokeball and stated, "You struck down my first pokemon.  I formally congratulate you.  But see if you can handle this!  Graveler!  I choose you!"

            Lina smirked as she stated, "Won't know until we try, now will we?  Butterfree, you think can continue?"

            Butterfree shakily nodded its head in agreement.  "Alright then!  Try Poison Powder!"

            Butterfree launched the attack but Zelgadis had Graveler attack with a jump tackle, effectively knocking Butterfree to the ground.  But just before Butterfree fainted, tiny purple powder escaped Butterfree's wings upon impact, allowing Graveler to accidentally breathe it in.  The score now stood as Zelgadis: 1 faint, 1 poisoned, and Lina: 1 faint, 1 new pokemon.

            With a fresh wave of hope, Lina thought, "I can win this!"  Lina returned Butterfree to its pokeball and "carefully" considered her next choice.  Lina was always one for favoritism, so her choice was…"Pyro Go!"

            Zelgadis scoffed.  "A Fire Pokemon against a Rock Type?  Don't you know that fire is weak against ground?"

            Lina confidently grinned.  "As a general statement, you're right.  But with my training, my Pyro is different than other fire-types.  Plus, your Graveler is poisoned.  All I really would have to do is prolong the match and it'd faint by itself.  Let's go!  Pyro!  Improvised Ember attack #2!  Fireball!"

            A large ball of fire grew at Pyro's mouth, and was launched at the very slightly weakened Graveler.  Zelgadis seemed surprised when the attack sent Graveler back a few feet.

            "Graveler.  Use a Magnitude attack."

            Graveler pounded both of his large "fists" into the ground, sending a shockwave that made the rock boulders on either side of Pyro collapse on top of him.

            "Pyro!  Jump back and send out an Improvised Ember attack #1!  Flare Arrow!"

            Pyro jumped back far enough to escape the rock avalanche and release a fire "lance" that turned into five arrows of fire after getting through the remains of the debris.  Every single one hit Graveler, but in separate places.  The result – Graveler was knocked onto his back, but he could still get up.

            Zelgadis was determined not to let a greenhorn trainer beat him, but there was something different about the way this challenger trained her pokemon, and he knew it.

            "Graveler, Rock Throw."

            Basically, the attack was no different except the rocks that fell were larger.  Again, Pyro instinctively dodged the attack and stood on top of the large rock pile.  Lina grinned and thought a moment before deciding Pyro's next attack.  "Pyro – Use Improvised Ember attack 3!  That should do the trick!  Mega Brand!"

            Since Zelgadis had never heard of such an attack, he didn't know how Graveler could defend against it except, "Graveler, defend yourself."  Graveler put both arms in a criss-cross in front of his face, but that barely did anything as he was enveloped in a pillar of fire.  When the smoke cleared, both trainers found that Graveler, too, had fainted.

            Zelgadis grimaced as he returned Graveler to his pokeball.  "You tried your best.  Good job."  He turned to Lina and started walking towards her.

            Lina was currently congratulating Pyro on their first gym victory when Zelgadis loomed over her.  She stood up with a cheeky grin.  Zelgadis held out a fist, and opened it to reveal the Boulder Badge.  Lina eyes sparkled with glee, and perhaps greed.

            "Take it.  You won it fair and square.  Although, I've never seen attacks like the ones your Charmander used."

            Lina graciously took the badge, thanked him happily, and bent down to show Pyro.  Gourry congratulated Lina and she gave him a victory sign in response.  She then put her new badge in a pouch in her cape before sitting down and calling out the fainted Butterfree to her lap.  Zelgadis and Gourry watched as she took out a small purple potion from her bag and poured a drop into Butterfree's mouth.  In a second, Butterfree was alive with energy.  When she stood up again, Butterfree rested on her shoulder and said a few words in "Butterfree" language.  Lina turned to Pyro and asked, "Say what?"

            Pyro closed his eyes and answered slightly haughtily, "Char mander char charman."

            "WHAT?!"  Lina looked at her Butterfree in an incredulous exclamation.  "Why should I give you ice cream?!  Not only will you get fat, you'll get sick too.  Pokemon shouldn't have ice cream."

            Zelgadis was startled at this sudden outburst.  "How, how do you know they want ice cream?"

            Pyro said another few words and Lina growled, "Pyro doesn't want ice cream; he wants beef jerky, he says.  According to him, Butterfree wants Butterscotch ice cream.  I'm not even sure that's a flavor."

            Zelgadis cleared his throat and said, "Again, how do you know what they want?"

            Lina looked back up at him with a slightly surprised look.  "Eh?  I can understand what fire-type pokemon say, but not any others, so I have Charmander translate for me.  You didn't figure that out already?"

            Zelgadis coughed into his hand and remarked, "Are you really a pokemon translator?"

            Lina cocked her head slightly as she said, "I suppose you could say that, yes."

            Gourry asked, "Oi, Lina.  What are we going to do now?"

            "Need you ask?  We eat!"

            Zelgadis sweatdropped as Gourry cheered in agreement.

            Butterfree said something, Charmander translated, and Lina immediately said, "No ice cream or beef jerky!  I'll give you treats when we get there, but not sweets!  Afterwards, we're headed for Cerulean City!"

            Lina considered something a moment before she asked Zelgadis, "Hey, Zel.  Want to come with us?"

            Zelgadis seemed surprised by this.  "Why?"

            "You want to cure yourself, right?  So you don't look the way you do now?  I think I know some people in Cinnabar that might be able to help.  It's on my way, too.  What do you say?"

            "How did you-"

            Lina winked and said, "I have my ways.  So do you want to come?"

            Zelgadis cracked a small smile.  "Thanks for the offer, but I think I'm better off searching alone."

            Lina shrugged.  "If that's the way you want it.  Just know that you're always welcome to join me.  See ya!  Come on Gourry!  Butterfree!  Pyro!  Let's go!"

            Without another look, Lina ran back out, Gourry and her pokemon in tow.  Zel exhaled deeply, and went at lightning speed to his room to pack for his journey – a step that took only two mere minutes.

A/N: Well? How do you like it?  I didn't make it too easy right?  Please Review!


	4. Fiery Escape

A/N: Wow, so many reviews!  Thanks much!  Sorry I haven't been able to update this story in a while, but I've been busy.  If you want to see Amelia and Xellos, you'll have to wait a little while and stick with me.  I have a plan for both of them, don't you worry.  Well, let's get on with the story!

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon, I /certainly/ don't own Slayers, and I'd never be able to make money off of this, even if I knew how.

Ch.4: Fire Escape!

The Saillunes in Mt. Moon

            Lina and Gourry traveled in relative peace.  Every so often, just about every time Gourry spoke, Lina would hit him over the head for saying something extremely dumb.  For example…

            "Oi, Lina…"

            "What is it /now/?"

            "Why is the brown sky moving?"

            "The sky's blue, Gourry."

            "No it isn't.  Look."

            Lina tiredly looked up.  She yelped at what she saw, her eyes going as wide as saucers.  "That's not the sky Gourry.  Those are Pidgey and Pidgeottos – and a whole lot of them!  They seem to be going –" Lina followed the mass of bird-type pokemon in the sky "East toward Cerulean City.  Come on!  Let's go check it out!"

            "Cerulean City? Uh..  Ah- I'm coming, I'm coming, wait for me!"

            By now, Lina was well ahead of him.  Gourry bumped straight into Lina when she abruptly stopped.  "Oi, Lina- What's the hold up?"

            Not really even listening to him, Lina murmured, "What the heck is this…?"

            In front of her was a towering boulder somewhat built like a narrow pyramid, but that wasn't what amazed Lina so much.  It was the fact that a young girl, in her low teens, was happily surrounded by Pidgeys and Pidgeottos like some peace-loving tree for birds, on top of the rock.  It made her queasy in the stomach just watching her.  Calling out, Lina asked, "HEY!! WHAT ARE YOU DOING, WAY UP THERE?"

            All of the birds scattered into the surrounding trees.  Surprised, the young girl looked down.  Lina saw that she had short black hair, and wore a full off-white outfit consisting of a short-sleeved shirt and slightly baggy pants.  Shielding her eyes with a hand, she called back down, "HOLD ON!  I CAN'T HEAR YOU!  I'M COMING DOWN!"

            The girl stood up and took a step back before jumping down from the rock with a twist and a twirl.  The rock had to be at least 15-20 feet tall, so it was no surprise when she fell flat on her face with her bottom sticking up in the air.  Gourry used a stick to prod her still form.  "Oi…Are you okay?  Hey!"

            With one swift move, the girl was on her feet, an invincible expression upon her face.  That, and a few scratches and bruises that she took no notice of.

            Now that Lina had a good look at her, she judged the girl to be younger than her, as well as shorter.  She had on baggy light-tan pants with almost no pockets on the sides, and a matching shirt, both trimmed with pink.  On her wrists were twin pink bracelets with blue gems in the middle.  On a belt tied around her waist was surprisingly, four pokeballs.  Was she a pokemon trainer, too?

            The girl chirruped, "Now, what was it that you said?"

            Putting a hand on her head to ease her throbbing temple, Lina repeated, in a calm but slightly disbelieving voice, "I said, 'What are you doing way up on a rock surrounded by bird pokemon?'"

            "The birds are my friends!  Some monstrous fiend scared them all very much!  I seek to bring justice to this perpetrator!"

            Lina raised an eyebrow; her arms were crossed over her chest.  For once, Gourry spoke her thoughts.  "Wow, for a kid, you sure say a lot of big words!"

            Striking a pose, the girl declared, "Justice knows no bounds!"

            As clueless as ever, Gourry asked in response, "Eh?  Who's Justice?  And what bounds?"

            Lina sighed.  "Don't mind him, he's always like this.  My name's Lina.  Lina Inverse.  I'm a fire pokemon expertise trainer.  You?"

            Striking another pose the girl proclaimed, "I am Amelia Wiltesla Saillune of Saffron City!  I am striving to rid this world of evil and all things bad!"

            Lina's eyebrow was twitching.  "That's nice, but… Just how do you plan on doing that?"

            Amelia's answer was plain and simple, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.  "I'm training to be like Officer Jenny!"

            Now a giant sweatdrop appeared on Lina's head.  Now that she thought about it…Amelia's hair did sort of curve out like Officer Jenny's, but… her hair was black, and she looked even younger than Lina; shorter too.  Lina sighed yet again.  "Whatever.  If you're from Saffron City, what are you doing way out here?"

            Amelia calmed down a bit at this.  "My Daddy left home a while pack in a quest to spread justice about two weeks ago… I wanted to travel alongside him, but he had left me behind.  So I ran away to find him and I think he's in Mt. Moon now."

            "What makes you think that?"

            "I received this note not too long ago."

            Amelia handed Lina a folded piece of paper.  Lina took it, unfolded it, and read it out loud.

            Amelia Saillune-

I have your father.  Come to Mt. Moon with 500,000 PD and the key to your city.  I will be waiting.

            -Anonymous Ransomer

            "Ransomer?  Who do they think they're kidding?  And what's this about a key to the city?"

            "Eh?  Didn't I tell you?"

            "Tell me what?"

            "Daddy's the mayor of Saffron City.  Saffron has become very large and wealthy since Daddy was elected.  He's been mayor for about ten years now!"

            Lina's eyes gleamed greedily.  Although she was but ten years of age, she had already acquired a great addiction to money – even more so to easy money.

            Putting on a happy façade, Lina extended her hand and said, "Well, in that case, we'll help you get your dad back!"

            "Really?!"

            Lina huffed proudly, "Yup!  Come on, let's get a move on!  Your dad's not going to pay his own ransom!"

            Question marks popped up around Amelia and Gourry.  "Wha?"

            Lina waved it off and started marching towards Mt. Moon.  "Never mind, never mind.  Let's just go.  Onward ho!"

            This, they understood, and reacted positively.  Soon, they were on their way once again.

            That same day, they reached the entrance to Mt. Moon.  Lina comically rolled up her sleeves and mock-spit into her gloves, and trudged in.  The other two warily followed her.  As this whole ordeal was after Ash and co. had come, things had pretty much been returned to normal.  They didn't get far before they came across a Sandshrew.  Eyes glittering, Lina stepped forward.

            "A new pokemon for my collection!  Go Pyro!  Fireball!"

            Before the Sandshrew had time to react, it was charred and captured.  Lina made a victory sign as she pocketed the Sandshrew pokeball and decided to keep Pyro out as she continued to walk forward.  Both Amelia and Gourry seemed impressed by this swift and easy capture.  They followed her in a daze of awe.

            Just from the cave entrance to their destination in the heart of the mountain, Lina caught 7 different pokemon, each of a different species.  They knew they had reached their destination when they came across a pair of giant iron brass doors.  Gourry pushed a door open easily, and allowed the two younger girls to walk in before him.  After they were all inside, the door ominously closed behind them with a loud slam.  This made Lina and Gourry jump with a start, and goose bumps crawl up Amelia's arms.

            Suddenly, an "evil" laugh echoed throughout the large cavern.

            "Bwah haw haw haw haw HA Ha ha…ha."

            But in all honesty, it was just a sad attempt at it, and only made the three kids look around, with small sweatdrops on the backs of their heads.

            The same voice proclaimed in a semi-ghastly voice, "Do you have The Money?"

            Amelia was about to answer when Lina outstretched an arm in front of Amelia, and declared with a smirk, "They don't need to pay ransom when Lina Inverse, Pokemon Trainer Extraordinaire is on their side!"  
            The voice, now recognized as male, scoffed.  "And who, pray tell, is this so called 'Lina Inverse' that you speak of, little girl?"

            A stressmark appeared over Lina's head, replacing the sweatdrop.  "Don't Call Me THAT!  I am Lina Inverse, show yourself!"

            "As you wish."  A spotlight suddenly turned on, revealing a throne upon a dais a few yards in front of the group.  Standing in front of the throne chair was a stringy beanpole resembling a human man with dirty blond hair and an overconfident smirk.  Dressed in a formal off-white suit, the man looked to be in his lower 30's.

            Amelia suddenly blurted out, over the edge of shocked and more than surprised, "Uncle Randy?!  Why are you here?!  Where is my Daddy?!"

            "Uncle Randy" responded as he took a step to the side, "He's right here."

            In the seat, hands and ankles tied to the chair, and a gag in his mouth, was a hairy man that resembled a dwarf, or maybe just a relative of the Wild Man from Borneo (so I'm exaggerating, *don't* sue me).  His black hair curved into two "wings" on either side of his head, and his thick mustache extended almost all the way to his ears.  He was now trying to get out a muffled speech, but the gag prevented him from doing so.

            "DADDY!!"

            Amelia started running towards him, but Randy stopped her by standing in front of him again and slightly parting his arms from his sides.

            "Give me the ransom.  Only then will I allow you to be reunited with your father."

            Amelia grimaced.  "I-"

            "HEY YOU!"

            Both Uncle Randy and Amelia jumped when Lina suddenly shouted this.  They turned to her as she took a few steps forward.  "You wouldn't happen to be a pokemon trainer now would you, you string bean?"

            Uncle Randy growled and called out, "Come on out my aide!"

            A figure in a long overcoat and slightly graying black hair appeared from midst the shadows.  When they stood side by side, they made a whole bunch of poses, mirroring each other, before they release a pokemon together.  Lina sighed and sent forth her Charmander.  His opponent was a Machop.  No real advantage, but Lina's real advantage was her special training techniques.  "Go Pyro!  Barbecue 'em with a good Fireball!"

            Pyro responded readily and made his ball of fire just about as effective as a Flamethrower.  The Machop was charred and burnt to a crisp.  Randy returned the pokemon to its ball, and after another weak display of utter stupidity (sorry) also known as posing, they released two Machoke.  Out of the blue, Amelia called out, "Let's go!  Pacifist Crush!"

            Riding a nicely sized Pidgeot, Amelia flew her pokemon straight in between the two Machoke, which was actually a double Wing attack, and knocked the pokemon as well as the trainers down.  Amelia landed her Pidgeot and set to untie her father.  The two men were about to stop her, when Lina stopped /them/ by having Pyro Flare Arrow their behinds.  Lina found it hard to keep a serious face and not crack up laughing.  Gourry was as confused as ever.

            "Your opponent is me!  You shouldn't turn your backs during a match, or else you might fight yourself being fried from the back!"

            The two men turned back and snarled, "Why you… Machoke, use- Ah!  When were you knocked out?"

           When they saw Lina point behind them, they looked and saw that Amelia had already freed her father from his binds.  Together, they broke out into a speech.  "You who have crossed the line of righteousness into the depths of evil!  We give you this one chance to change your evil ways and become good once more!"

            When Uncle Randy responded, "I'll do whatever it takes to become Saffron City's mayor and then use my power to rule the land!"

            "Then we have no choice but to punish you for your evil intentions and smite thee in the name of JUSTICE!!"

            Amelia's father released a matching Pidgeot and together they declared, "Double Father-Daughter Swift Punishment Special!

            The two Pidgeot, wingtip to wingtip, leapt forward and sent double Swift attacks.  Incidentally, the two Swift Attacks collided with one another just before they hit their target, resulting in a huge explosion and the cave starting to collapse.  With a yelp, Lina hurriedly returned Pyro to his Pokeball and they all rushed out, Randy and his sidekick unable to do so due to having passed out.

            As they stood watching the cliff crumble to rubble, Amelia and her father took a moment to bow their heads in respect, even if he did want to conquer their city and then the world.  Afterwards, they finally had a "proper" reunion.

            "Daddy!"

            "Daughter!"

            *Big Bear Hug*

            *Part*

            *Another Big Hug*

            Lina was getting annoyed upon the third parting and hugging.  She cleared her throat and asked with a voice as sweet as sugar, "I'm *so* glad you're reunited now.  By chance, do you think, I might possibly have a reward for assisting Amelia?  Perhaps even a money reward?"

            They both looked at her, and then at each other.

            Amelia said, "I spent all of my money trying to find Daddy!"

            Her father replied, "And Randy took all of my money…"

            Lina hung her head with a sigh.  

           Amelia's father added, "Don't worry!  I am very thankful that you went out of your way to protect my dear daughter, so you can have as much as you want when we get back to Saffron City!"

            Lina was flabbergasted.  "Saffron City?!  We're nowhere near there!  And it'd be taking a lot of time out of my pokemon journey."

            "Well if you don't want to go…."

            "I know!  I'll be stopping at Saffron City eventually.  Why don't you hold the reward for me until then?"

            Amelia's father nodded.  "Of course, of course.  We'd be delighted for you to come and visit us at any time you please.  I'm afraid I didn't catch your name, however.  My given name is Philionel Eldi Saillune, but you please just call me Phil."

            "Well /Phil/-san, the name's Lina.  Lina Inverse.  I'm a fire pokemon master.  I'm on my way to the Indigo Plateau after I get all my badges."

            "Eh really?"  Gourry sounded astounded as if it were the first time he had ever heard of such a thing.

            Lina retorted, "Yes, really.  I've only got one badge now, but I know I'll get more soon."

            Amelia was as perky as ever. "Well, I hope we'll be seeing each other again soon!  When you visit us, I'll give you a personal tour of the city!"

            Phil cleared his throat.  "We must be getting on home now.  Farewell for now!"

            Not long afterwards, the two parties separated to go their own ways; one for home; one for-

            Lina and Gourry reached the outskirts of Cerulean City two days later.  When they reached the welcome sign, Gourry suddenly exclaimed, "Hey!  This is my hometown!"

            Lina facefaulted.  She had wondered why Gourry was so quiet as of late.  "You couldn't tell me that /before/?!"

            Gourry held a finger up and 'pointed out', "But I didn't realize until just now."

            "What triggered this 'sudden' remembrance?"

            Gourry then pointed at a corner of the welcome sign.  "I saw this."  In blue marker, there was a scrawled picture that resembled Gourry, if he was a mindless blob, next to the words, "This is Gourry's hometown! ^_^"

            Lina sweatdropped as she read this.  Lina sighed it off and looked at Gourry.  "I don't suppose you could hook us up with a free stay then, right?"

            "Ummmm…….Yes?  Or is it no?  Or…?  Uh………….."

- home.

A/N: If you think Phil was a bit too formal at the end I have two reasons for you; 1.) Phil's the mayor instead of being the "Prince" so he should act more "serious".  2.) This is my story and I'm improvising ^_^ |  On the other hand, I /did/ get Amelia in rather quickly.  I'm just going with the flow here though.  Don't expect Xellos until around the Fuschia Gym.  Oops!  Shouldn't have told you that… *cough cough* Too much in the future to say.  La de da de da…Oh!  Please review!


	5. Fire vs Water

A/N: Wow.  This story is much more popular than my other ones… hmm… I'll take note of this.  Don't worry, Xellos will appear when he's good and ready to.  If the "crazy lunatic girl" you're referring to is Martina, I think I'll have to wait until the tournament for her to appear.  Just so I know, how many of you dislike Ash?  There are various reasons…abandoning his pokemon when he wants to be a pokemon master… trying to abandon Pikachu… never realizing Misty might have feelings for him…. Never growing up… the list is endless.  ^_^ If you decide to review, please tell me, because I'm considering having some Lina-style Ash-bashing.  Your decision.  Please Read and Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon, or Slayers, or anything else that isn't mine to own.

Fire vs. Water

Home Sweet Home, Gourry!

            "I'm home!"

            Gourry banged open the front door of his Cerulean home.  It was a normal looking living room, if you didn't mind that everything was some shade of blue.

            Daisy popped her head from around the corner, hand with hairbrush still combing her hair.  She smiled as she greeted, "Well, if it isn't, like, Gourry!  You've been gone, like, forever!  Hey girls, like, look what the cat dragged home!"

            Gourry looked around blankly as footsteps were heard.  "We have a cat?  Wait, what's a 'cat'?"

            "I think it's just an expression, Gourry."

            Gourry jumped when he suddenly heard Lina's voice behind him.

            Violet immediately asked upon coming into view, "So, like, Gourry, who's your little friend?"

            Gourry seemed to have to think hard on that one.  He looked up, he looked down, he closed his eyes, he opened his eyes, and declared, "I forgot!"

            Lina walked forward, purposely tripping Gourry on the way.  When she was within a few feet of the sisters, she closed her eyes, cleared her throat, and said in an extremely innocent and way-too-good-to-be-true way, "My name's Lina.  Lina Inverse.  I'm from Pallet Town.  Nice to meet you."

            Lina inclined her head forward slightly out of respect.  They replied thus so:

            "Like, Hi!"

            "How did you, like, meet Gourry?"

            "Yeah, and are you in town to, like, see us perform?"

            Lina kept up her expression as she said back, "I fished him out of a pond, and no, I just stopped by to get a gym battle and maybe even a free place to stay the night?"

            As Gourry groggily got up, Daisy winked and said, "Any friend of Gourry's is, like, always welcome here, right girls?"

            Violet and Lily nodded in agreement.  Lily added, "And we can, like, have the match tomorrow morning between, like, our practices."

            Violet walked behind Gourry and pushed him lightly towards the inside of the house, as Lily did the same with Lina.  Violet explained, "So, like, since you're spending the night, you should, like, take a shower.  Do you have extra clothes?"

            Lina made out a sound of affirmation.  Daisy followed them and said, "Well, then, you can like, use our shower, 'cause we're, like, already done.  Um.. Lina?  You can, like, go first since you're, like, our guest."

            Lina managed out a small 'Thanks' before she was rather shoved into the bathroom.  Sighing, she went to take a quick shower, changed her clothes, and went out the door.  She quickly found Gourry in the dining room, eating to his heart's content.  She joined him, and told him that the shower was free.

            That night, under the blanket in the guest room, Lina checked her Statidex for the Cerulean sisters.  I'll list them in order:

Name: Daisy Waterflower

Race: Human

Hometown: Cerulean City

Height: 5' 3"

Weight: 110 lbs.

Pokemon:

Shellder (Lv. 22)

- Tackle

- Withdraw

- Aurora Beam

- Water Gun

Seel (Lv. 16)

- Headbutt

- Surf

- Aurora Beam

- Bubblebeam

Overall Grade: B

Status: Gym Leader

# of Badges: 1

Voice-over: Daisy is the oldest of the Cerulean Sisters that run the Cerulean Gym.  She is also the most mature as she is smarter, nicer, and more skilled than the rest of the Sensational Sisters.

Name: Violet Waterflower

Race: Human

Hometown: Cerulean City

Height: 5' 3"

Weight: 108 lbs.

Pokemon:

Goldeen (Lv. 20)

- Peck

- Horn Attack

- Bubblebeam

- Tail Whip

Seel (Lv. 16)

- Headbutt

- Growl

- Aurora Beam

- Bubblebeam

Overall Grade: B

Status: Gym Leader

# of Badges: 1

Voice-over:  Violet is the second-oldest Cerulean Sister.  She is probably the most creative of the sisters, so she is the scriptwriter for the plays they perform.  She is also a Cerulean Gym Leader.

Name: Lily Waterflower

Race: Human

Hometown: Cerulean City

Height: 5' 2"

Weight: 109 lbs.

Pokemon:

Staryu (Lv. 23)

-Tackle

-Rapid Spin

-Recover

-Water Gun

Seel (Lv. 16)

- Headbutt

- Surf

- Aurora Beam

- Bubblebeam

Overall Grade: B

Status: Gym Leader

# of Badges: 1

Voice-over: Lily is the youngest of the "Sensational Sisters".  She loves the beautifying and water shows the most.  She is also a Cerulean Gym Leader.

            Lina murmured to herself, "Level 23 at the most?  This might be tougher than I thought.  I'm going to have to transfer some pokemon…  Let's see… Press this, do that…"

            The next morning, Lina was ready and waiting.  After their morning lap around the pool, the three sisters dried off on the stands.  Daisy asked Lina, "So, like, is a three-on-three battle, like, okay with you?"

            Lina shrugged.  "Fine by me.  Let's start!"

            Violet instructed, "Okay, then, like, go over there in the trainer's box, and, like, we'll start."

            Gourry was acting as referee when the trainers all went to their designated boxes.  It was the same field that Ash used.  Somehow, Lina had managed to make it to the gym before Ash, so their pokemon were still A-okay.

Daisy said, "Okay, so, like, I'll go first.  Go Shellby (Shellder)!"

            "Shellder!"

            Lina smirked.  Carefully, she picked a pokeball from her belt and called forth, "Go Spade (Spearow)!"

            "(I'm ready!)"

            Gourry read his lines on a piece of paper.  "Um… Trainers ready?  Begin!"

            Lina attacked first.  "Spade, Tornado Tackle now!"

            Daisy countered, "Shellby!  Withdraw Now!  Like, Lina?  What's up with the weird names and all?"

            Her question was answered when Lina's spearow dived in a fast twirl, which ended up looking like a tornado.  Even when Shellder withdrew, the tornado pokemon knocked Shellder clear out of the pool.  It was knocked out.

            Gourry read slowly, "Uh… Shellder is unconscious.  Spearow wins the round."

            Daisy skipped out of the pool to tend to Shellder.  "Like, Shellby, are you okay?  Take a rest now."  Daisy returned Shellder to its pokeball.

            Violet was up next.  "You're, like, good, Lina.  Let's see how you do against Goldeen!"

            "I'm staying with Spade.  Spade, Drill Peck now!"

            Spade went in for another dive.  Violet was quick to react, "Goldeen, dive down, and then use Horn attack!"

            Lina yelped when Spade hit the water, and then flew into the air by Goldeen's horn.  When he flopped back down, he had fainted.

            "Spearow is unconscious.  Goldeen wins the round."

Lina grimaced.  She returned Spade, and called out, "Butterfree!  I choose you!"

            "(Weee!  A battle!)"

            "Goldeen, like, Horn Attack again!"

            "Butterfree move out of the way and use Sleep powder."

            Since Butterfree moved out of the way, and Goldeen landed down in the water, both attacks were canceled.

            "Butterfree, Whirlwind!"

            "Goldeen, dive deep down to escape it!"

            "Go onto the edge of the water and use Whirlwind again!"

            A small whirlpool was the end effect.  Goldeen was caught up in it, but so was Butterfree.

            Lina called out for Butterfree to use Sleep Powder – bad idea.

            When the whirlpool subsided, it was a double knockout.

            "Both pokemon are unconscious.  This round is a draw."

            Lina returned Butterfree, as Violet did the same with Goldeen.

            Again, the Cerulean Leader released first.  "Staryu, I choose you!"

            Lina grinned.  Her expression darkened.  "Let's end this!  Pikachu, go!"

            Lily sweated when the fat Pikachu came into play.  "Pikachu!  Use Slam!"

            "Staryu, dodge underwater!"

            "Follow it Pikachu!"

            "Staryu, Rapid Spin!"

            "Hold onto it Pikachu!  Thunderbolt now!"

            The pool flashed a bright yellow as the electricity took its toll.  Eventually, Pikachu hopped back onto one of the pads, and Staryu floated to the surface, gem flashing dangerously.

            "Staryu, Recover!"

            Staryu healed, and flipped onto a pad on the opposite side.  "Ha!"

            Lina was relentless.  "You survived one, but can you survive this?  Pikachu, Bolt Skipper!"

            Pikachu released a ball of electricity that skipped four times on the water, and hit Staryu.  Again, Staryu fell weak, gem flashing.

            "Pikachu!  Don't give it a chance to recover!  Full Body Slam!"

            *SLAM*  @_@

            "Staryu is unable to battle.  Pikachu is the winner!  Challenger Lina Inverse from Pallet Town has won the match!"

            Lina cheered and Pikachu came with a galloping jump into Lina's arms.  "Good ol' Poppy!  I knew I could count on you!  Good job!"

            She returned Pikachu to its pokeball, and walked around to the Cerulean Sisters.  Lily returned Staryu to its pokeball, and they all walked towards her.

Daisy started, "Congratulations, Lina.  That was a totally cool battle."

Violet continued, "You should come back and see our show sometime."

Lily added, "Oh, yeah.  Like, duh, we totally forgot!  Seel!"

            Seel came from under the water and stuck out his tongue.  On it was the Cerulean Badge, the Cascade Badge.  Daisy picked it up and held it out to Lina.  She took it with thanks and added, "I'm really not much of a water person.  I have to go to the Pokecenter now.  See ya later!"

            Lina ran off before anybody could say anything else.  Gourry thought a bit before saying, "Umm… I think I'm gonna go with her.  You know, make sure she doesn't get hurt on her travels and stuff.  I'll come back home sometime.  Bye!"

            With that, Gourry followed in Lina's tracks.  The Sensational Sisters watched them leave, before saying, "Like, that was rude."

            "Yeah, totally.  Staying only for one night and then leaving again."

            "We should probably, like, heal our pokemon before, like, our next show."

            There was mutual agreement, and they left as well.

            At the Pokecenter, Lina asked Nurse Joy to borrow a room, and she obliged, handing Lina a key.  Lina hurriedly thanked her, took the key, and locked the door behind her.  She released all of the pokemon she had used in battle, and immediately remedied each of them with a full restore.  Spade, Butterfree, and Pikachu were all the more energetic.  Lina then returned each of them to their pokeballs and set to work.

            She pressed a code into her statidex, and it immediately popped out two identical pokeball slots on either side, as well as an antenna on the top.  She dialed Professor Oak's number, and asked to return Pikachu for her Sandshrew.  She put Pikachu's pokeball on the left side, it was transferred, and a different pokeball appeared on the right side.  She thanked Prof. Oak and said goodbye.  Putting in a different code, the slots and antenna disappeared, and Lina collapsed the hinged Statidex.  Her new line-up consisted of Charmander, Spearow, Butterfree, Sandshrew, Ratticate, and Clefairy.  Her badges included the Boulder Badge and the Cascade Badge.  Lina sighed with happiness, and went back outside.  After lunch, the two travelers were on their way again.

A/N:  So how did you like this chapter?  I have a feeling I made the Sensational sisters better trainers than they were supposed to be, but oh well.  Don't forget to tell me your opinion about Ash.  Oh, and besides Xellos, tell me who you want to see, and I'll see if I can fix it in somewhere.  Just review!  Thanks much for your time.  ^_^


	6. Riding the Waves of Passion

A/N: Well, like, I just wanted to keep them, like, in character, you know?  ^_~  Well, if you say Ash makes so many mistakes because he's just a kid… what about Gary?  They're the same age, you know.  And also, under those circumstances, wouldn't Gourry be just a few watts dumber as a kid rather than a young adult?  ^_^  Some mental candy for yee readers – don't chew it too fast!  Let's see….We've covered Pallet Town…past Viridian...the badge at Pewter City…Mt. Moon.. Cerulean City… *Looks at map*  Either we're headed for Saffron or Viridian next!  Land ahoy!  Please Review!

Ch. 6 – Riding the Waves of Passion

All Aboard the St. Anne!

            "Oi…Lina?  Where-"

            "Stop asking already!  We're headed for Vermillion City!"

            "Where's-"

            "It's a bit of a ways south of here, past Saffron City (I'm referring to the game map)."  
            "Then why don't we-"

            "Because there's a special cruise that visits Vermillion once a year, and I'm not going to miss it."

            "Uh…You want it to leave?"

            "With me on it."

            "Then how-"

            "We'll come back in about three days to the same port."

            "Wait, I thought you-"

            "I don't mind it if I can mooch off a couple of tickets for free."

            Gourry was silent as he had run out of questions to ask.  Considering he had been asking the exact same things in that exact order for at least three days of traveling, it wasn't all that hard to figure out.

            During their travels, they had come across Pokemon Tech, like Ash and co. had.  Having heard of their reputation, Lina wanted to see what it was like.  Once in there, she was immediately asked if she was a visitor, which should have been pretty obvious considering her clothes.  When Lina pointed this out, the student got angry and challenged her to a battle.  The student used a Tangela, so Lina chose Charmander.  Needless to say, with Lina's training and Charmander's obvious advantage, Lina won.  Feeling confident, Lina looked all around the school and challenged everyone she saw, and didn't lose a single battle.  Finally, Lina went up against Giselle and her Cubone.  Lina grimaced but chose Charmander.  Giselle and her backup laughed at her for making such a dangerous choice, but Lina had trust in her Charmander, and she would see it to the end.  Besides…according to her statidex…Charmander might be evolving soon…

            In the end result, with a combination of Mega Brand, Flare Arrow, and a version of Flame Wheel, Charmander and Lina won.  As they cheered their victory, Charmander began to glow white…  Lina cheered more when Charmander evolved to Charmeleon.  She hugged her new Charmeleon until Giselle congratulated her.  Lina in turn muttered a short "thanks" for all of them leveling up her pokemon and then having Charmander evolve.  They continued along their travels soon thereafter.

            Later on, as they near their goal, they also come by the lighthouse.  Deciding to take a break, Lina sits on the edge of the cliff, and Gourry worriedly follows her.  As it was nearing sunset, they saw the shadow of a pokemon that Bill was interested in.  After Lina identified it with her statidex as a Dragonite, she desperately wanted to catch it.  However, knowing the strength of her current pokemon, she knew it'd be a hard battle to win.  So…

            She released Pyro and had him translate, "I want to be your friend.  Please join me in my battles.  I know that together, we can both be great."

            It also happened that this was around the time Bill tried to talk to Dragonite, but it shook its head at both of them.  Lina was surprised when little explosions bombarded the Dragonite's skin.  Lina sighed.  She wanted to put it out of its misery… but how?  Lina's mind snapped at the answer.  She fished through her cape for a special little pouch.  Lina pulled out a black and white pokeball from it, but saw that Dragonite was moving away.  At Lina's insistence, Gourry let her borrow his Pidgeot (She hadn't even realized that he had one) and flew off after Dragonite.  When they were both surrounded by fog, Lina threw the pokeball, and Dragonite was instantly captured.  How, you ask, did Lina catch the Dragonite by simply throwing a pokeball?  Simple.  It was a master ball.  Lina returned to land, Pidgeot to Gourry and Pyro to his pokeball.  After a good rest, they were on their way again.

            Finally, Lina and Gourry reached Vermillion City.  Their first stop was the Pokecenter, to heal their pokemon.  They noted that a lot of pokemon were there with badly injured pokemon, mentioning something about the gym leader Lt. Surge.  After getting her pokemon healed, Lina was prepped and ready for battle.  Just as she was leaving the center, she eyed someone familiar in the shadows.  She backtracked a few steps and walked toward the figure to verify her suspicions.  She was right – It was Zel.

            "Hey Zel!  What are you doing all the way over here?  Shouldn't you be in Pewter City?"

            He acknowledged the two of them, but looked away when he muttered, "I left."

            Lina put a hand around her ear and said a bit louder, "Eh?  What was that?  You left?"

            He simply nodded.

            Gourry asked, "Why?"

            "I'm searching for my cure."  Zel emphasized this by pulling his hood more over his face.  

Lina shrugged.  "Whatever.  Wanna come see my gym match?  Afterwards, I plan to go on the St. Anne.  Maybe someone there will have a 'clue' for you."

            At this, Zel looked up at her.  He immediately stood up and said rather /too/ unenthusiastically, "Lead the way."  Lina smirked, but did just that.

            At the gym, she was "greeted" by Lt. Surge himself (I didn't watch this episode, so forgive me if I don't get his speech or accent right).

            "Are yeh wanting to challenge me to a gym battle?"

            Lina grinned with confidence.  "You bet I am."

            The referee told the trainers to go the trainer's boxes before starting the match.  A one-on-one pokemon battle; Lt. Surge chooses Raichu.  Checking her statidex, it was a level 28 – very high experience level.  Lina had a plan in mind though.

            "Sandslash!  I choose you!"

            Yes, Lina's Sandshrew had evolved.

            Raichu started with Body Slam.  Sandslash dodged out of the way easily, and countered with Earthquake.  As he was belly-down on the ground, he was hurt badly by it.  As Raichu tried to stand up, Sandslash attacked again with Fissure.  It was a dead-on hit – Raichu fainted.  Lina had won the match.  Lina put up a peace sign and grinned as she fed Sandslash a treat before returning it to its pokeball.  After receiving her new badge, the trio walked out.  Zel commented that that was a rather short battle.  Lina responded by saying that even though his pokemon was more leveled up, hers still had the advantage.

            Lina headed to the docks, and saw the St. Anne moored by a large pier.  Lina looked around and wondered how to get a free pass…  Suddenly, Team Rocket members Jessie and James appeared in their strange getups and asked if she was a pokemon trainer.  She nodded, a bit bewildered.  Then they did the same thing they did with Ash and co. which also resulted in them giving the travelers three free tickets.  Lina cheered and said thanks.  Handing one to Zel and Gourry, she headed up the pier, skipping like a little kid – which was exactly what she was.  Shrugging, Zel and Gourry followed her.

            Once aboard, and as soon as they saw the piles of luscious food on several tables, Lina and Gourry worked to "clean it all up."  Zel, seeing all those people, quickly went to hide in the corner, while using his keen hearing to pick up any possible leads.  Of course, there wouldn't be, but he could hope, right?

            Sometime later, Lina heard something about a pokemon battle and went to go check it out, drumstick in hand.  Gourry hadn't noticed that she left the table, so he continued to chow down.  Lina watched a middle-aged man that resembled a high-class magician of some sort, battle with other trainers.  She was about to challenge his Ratticate, when Ash challenged him.  With mild interest, Lina watched their battle as she noted that he had two people with him this time.  She scoffed in disbelief when the magician person basically forfeited, though he waved it off as a tie.

            Noting the Pikachu on Ash's shoulder, she thought, for a moment, that she had seen it somewhere before (before she started her journey I mean).  She also noticed that his Pikachu was considerably thinner.  Heh, go figure.

            Her interest piqued, she decided to go and challenge Ash as soon as she could.  Unfortunately, for the strangest reason, Ash decided to trade pokemon with the magician man.  Not wanting to battle a Ratticate under Ash's control, Lina suddenly lost interest and went to go find some more food.  Soon afterwards, however, her meal was interrupted when Team Rocket or something attacked them.  People in black clothes with portable leaf-blower machines on their backs jumped onto the tables, effectively ruining the food, which in turn made Lina mad.  How dare they ruin perfectly delicious food!  And for what?  To show how utterly pointless their purpose was?  At least someone else caught on – and informed the rest.  You can't go into a ship full of pokemon trainers and expect them to give up their pokemon without a fight.

            Lina decided to lend her help.  As much as she could, anyway.  The battle was short, and soon they had "blasted off" so to speak.  It was then that the ship began to rock dangerously, and the captain "informed" them that they should abandon ship.  Naturally, Lina and Gourry made sure to be one of the first people off, but Zel rejected the offer when they told him to come aboard the lifeboat.  His reasoning was just – with his chimeric parts, he would only serve to sink the lifeboat, thus ending other people's lives as well as his own.  Having said this, he released a fine Pidgeot and flew towards Vermillion City.  His Pidgeot was extremely well-trained, because even in the stormy weather, it didn't falter once as it headed for land.

            In the end, everyone eventually made it to land safely.  They found Zel having a nice cup of cappuccino in a restaurant in Vermillion.  From there, Lina set her sights on Saffron, and they headed towards it.

A/N: Sorry this chapter is so short.  I'll make the next one longer, I promise!  Well, I'll try anyway.  Let's see…according to the show, everyone has five badges by the time Ash has four right?  So, Lina has to pick up the speed… Happy? Zel's joined their crew!  I wonder how he'll feel when he see's that Cinnabar has turned…well…you know.  -_- poor Zelly.  Please Review!


	7. Politics Powwow

A/N: Fun, fun, fun, under the sun.  ^_^  Thanks for your reviews!  They really motivate me.  I would have updated sooner, but I have other stories to work on.  I wonder what makes this story so much more popular than my other ones….*shrug* oh well.  I shouldn't complain.  On with the story!

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon, and I don't own Slayers or anything else that isn't mine to own.

Ch. 7 – Politics Pow-wow

Double Shock in Saffron City

            Lina led the way to Saffron City, with Zel and Gourry in tow.

            "Oi, Lina…"

            "Can't you walk for ten minutes without asking a question?"

            "Umm…. How long is ten minutes?  I don't have a watch."

            Lina rolled her eyes and sighed.  Without looking back, she asked, "Ugh.  Never mind.  What is it then?"

            "Uh…Where are we going?"

            Lina almost fell over in surprise, but she caught herself easily.  Straightening back up, she put a hand up to her forehead and answered exasperatedly, "You just asked that half an hour ago!  We're going to Saffron City!"

            Gourry paused to contemplate this.  He replied back with a drawled out "Why?"

            Lina ticked the reasons off her fingers at a rapid speed.  "Well, first, to get the Marsh Badge from Sabrina of the Saffron City Gym, then visit Amelia to get a place to stay during our visit-"

            Zel interrupted, "Who's Amelia?"

            Lina paused her list to answer, "Oh, you don't know her, do you?  We met up with her a little while ago.  She's the daughter of the mayor of Saffron City.  I think her full name was…um…Amelia Wiltesla Saillune.  Ever heard of her?"

            "As a matter of fact, yes.  I believe I met her on one of /visits/ to my grandfather a few years back.  She's a raven-haired little Daddy's girl about this high, rants on and on about justice, right?"

            Lina eyed Zel with a slight turn of her head and nodded.  "That would be her."

            Lina turned her eyes back on the road, and after a pause, they simultaneously sighed.  Lina and Zel both thought, "And /that's/ who we're staying with?  It's going to be one loooonngg trip."

            Zel waited for Lina to continue, but after a few minutes, she didn't, so Zel asked, "Well?  Is that all you're going to do there?"

            Lina jumped slightly as if shaken out of a daze.  "Huh?  Oh.  No.  Where was I?  Oh yeah.  After we get that over, um…Lavender Town's not too far away, so make a quick trip there…maybe catch a ghost pokemon or two before challenging the Lavender Town Gym Leader…Then go back to the other side of Saffron, and head for Celadon City.  I hear they have tons of great stuff to buy at the shops.  That's basically the current outline.  Hey look!  I can see Saffron City!  Last one there's a rotten egg!"

            With that, Lina raced off into the distance.  Not wanting to be left behind, Gourry and Zel rushed after her.

            Even having said all that, Lina's first stop was the pokemon center, to drop off her pokemon for a check up, and stock up with food both in her tummy and in her bag.  With nothing better to do, Gourry and Zel did the same.

            After their pokemon were well rested, they headed for the Saffron City Gym.  They roamed the halls looking for the gym leader, and were met by someone very similar to the one Ash and co. had met.  Seeing them, he sneered, "What are you doing here, you little brats?  Only those who have business here are allowed inside; all others should leave immediately."

            If this was meant to intimidate them, he did it all wrong.  In fact, it only served to fire up Lina's spirit.  "Oh yeah?  Well it just so happens that I /do/ have business here.  So lead me to the Saffron City Gym Leader!"

            The man in a lab coat seemed snuffed.  A bit grouchily, he turned and muttered, "Follow me."

            And so, Lina and her two male companions were led to a set of double doors, bigger than the rest.  He left them there and walked away, having said that this was where the gym leader was.

            Taking a deep breath, Lina pushed open the doors, or rather, she stepped forward and the automatic sliding doors opened on their own.  On the other side of the room, behind a thin, burgundy curtain, a female figure was seated on a chair, on a platform, with her legs crossed.  Squinting her eyes, Lina tried to make out distinguished features, any features at all, of the mysterious figure.  Lina determined that the female was wearing a black outfit complete with black boots, and had short, black hair to match, before the figure called out, "Who dares to intrude in my domain?"

            Not one to be easily daunted, Lina took another step forward, accompanied by a slightly extended fist, and replied back, "The name's Lina.  Lina Inverse!  I come from Pallet Town and I hereby request a challenge from the Saffron City Gym Leader!"

            Jumping up, the female flung out her arm and the curtains obeyed her psychic command to pull open.  Her other hand was on her hip, as a confident smile tugged on her lips.  As soon as the female's figure was fully unveiled, Lina saw Zel's eyes pop wide open and his jaw drop a little, in the corner of her eye.  Inquisitively, Lina asked Zel with a look.  Taking no notice of Lina, Zel shook his head to clear it and regained his posture.  In a completely calm voice, Zel greeted, "It's been a while, Eris."

…

….

…..

(^_^)

A/N: What, you wanted me to write more than 850 words?  Well fine, since you've been so faithfully reviewing…

-_-

…..

….

…

            "What? (Lina)"

            Lina was surprised that Zel knew her.  But then, as she thought about it, he /had/ said he had been here before, and he /was/ a gym leader…

            Nevertheless, Lina, too, shook her head to clear it before she went on to check out Eris on her Statidex.  This is what she read:

Name: Eris (Last Name Unknown)

Race: Human

Hometown: N/A Current Residence in Saffron City

Height: 5' 5"

Weight: 110 lbs.

Pokemon:

Ditto (Lvl. 55)

-Transform

-Mimic

Kadabra (Lvl. 21)

-Teleport

-Confusion

-Psybeam

-Disable

Overall Grade: B

Status: Temp. Saffron City Gym Leader

# of Badges: 1

Voice-over:  Eris has always been a longstanding companion to the blind but great Pokemon Scientist Rezo and is assisting him in his lifelong passion to cure his eyes.  However, she currently has taken the place of the Saffron Gym Leader while Sabrina goes on a much-needed vacation.  Sabrina and Eris are second-cousins.

            Lina bit her lower lip in slight worry.  'A level 55 Ditto?  It looks like I might have to rely on a lot more luck than skill on this one…'

            Shaking any further worry off, Lina called out, "Whatever.  I don't care how you know her.  I'm here for my Marsh Badge and I'm going to get it."

            Eris triple-flipped into the air and landed perfectly in her trainer box.  "Then let's start."

            With a grin, Lina power-walked to her trainer box.  Eris declared, "This will be a two-on-two pokemon match.  Match Start!  My first pokemon is…Kadabra!"

            Eris released her Kadabra onto the field.  Keeping her grin, Lina released Pyro.  It was still a Charmeleon, but Lina had faith in all of her pokemon, fire-pokemon especially.  Lina initiated the first attack.

            "Pyro!  Start things off with a Headbutt!"

            "Kadabra – Teleport."

            Pyro missed and Kadabra reappeared behind him and attacked after Eris commanded, "Now, Confusion."

            "Pyro, quick!  Dig!"

            With that, Pyro dug himself into a hole, narrowly missing the attack.  Kadabra, just like any other pokemon, looked around for its target.  Eris' voice came again, "Be on guard.  Be ready to teleport."

            Lina smirked.  "Pyro!  FIRE GEYSER NOW!"  Immediately, several dozens of spots on the field erupted vertically with pillars of fire, no doubt also toasting Kadabra.  When the fire dispersed, and the smoke had cleared, Pyro and Kadabra could both be seen facing off, and breathing hard.  Now it was just a matter of wills.

            Lina knew the Fire Geyser took a lot out of her pokemon, but it was a sure-fire attack.  Lina was surprised that Kadabra could still stand.  Determined to win, Lina called out, "Alright Pyro, collect your energy and use Fireball Version 109!"

            "Kadabra, disable."

            Lina's smile widened.  By collecting his energy and the energy around him, not only was he immune to special attacks, but it actually helped to heal him and power him up.

            While he had been collecting energy, Pyro had closed his eyes and put his paws together in front of him, like people do when they pray.  Suddenly, Pyro's eyes shot open, his paws parted slightly, and like a Fire starter, blew fire from his mouth into the section between his paws.  In one swift move, Pyro moved his paws between his mouth and ball of fire, the ball of fire grew immensely, and Pyro released it towards his opponent.

            Kadabra didn't need to be told to teleport, even though he was (told) anyway.  Charmeleon feinted surprise as he looked around, gathering his strength again.  When Kadabra reappeared, Charmeleon turned to point a claw at him.  Not knowing what he was pointing at, Kadabra stood at a standstill, making him a perfect target for the fireball as it made its way around and behind Kadabra, and succeeded in scorching his back.  The impact of the hit made Kadabra fall flat on his face.  When he didn't get back up, Zel imitated a referee and announced, "Kadabra is unable to battle.  Charmeleon wins this round."

            Lina cheered and congratulated Charmeleon.  Eris grimaced as she returned Kadabra.  She released Ditto, which changed to Charmeleon before Lina had a chance to react.  Lina grinned once more.  Lina held up a pokeball and called for Pyro to return.

            "You did a great job, Pyro.  Next up is… Raticate!"

            "Ditto Transform!"

            Ditto transformed into Raticate.

            Lina knew that since Normal Pokemon didn't use special attacks, if Ditto transformed into Raticate, it would make no difference.

            "Raticate, Quick Attack!"

            "Ditto!  Quick Attack!"

            They collided head on, with a force of speed that made them both fly backwards.

            "Raticate Hyper Fang!"

            Lina's Raticate shook off the residing pain in his head and bulldozed towards his opponent.  As Ditto had also gotten up, Eris commanded for it to do the same.  However, since Lina's had a slight lead in starting, it had clamped onto Ditto's neck before Ditto could do it to him.  Ditto flinched in pain.

            Lina launched her fist into the air for emphasis.  "Alright Raticate!  Body Slam now!"

            Ditto's eyes popped wide open as it felt the sudden weight on it.  Before it had a chance to recover, Lina called out, "Finish it with Thunder!"

            As Raticate had yet to get off, the impact was astounding.  Ditto changed back to its original form, and its eyes revealed that it was knocked out.  Zel again mimicked a referee and proclaimed in a rather monotonous tone, "Ditto is unable to battle.  Raticate wins the round, Challenger Lina Inverse is the winner."

            Lina cheered again.  She thanked Raticate and returned him to his pokeball.  Eris silently returned Ditto   With a spring in her step, Lina skipped across the battlefield to Eris.  With an extremely happy expression, Lina outstretched her hand in anticipation.  Grudgingly, Eris handed over the Marsh Badge to Lina.  Lina held the Marsh badge in front of her eyes so that she could get a good look at it.  More practiced instinct than anything else, Lina bowed her head a little and thanked Eris.  Turning to run back a few yards, Lina stopped, turned again to wave, and then went back to her friends.  She flashed her newest badge at them before going out the door, with them following her.

            After getting back outside, Lina stretched in the sunlight.  Half to herself, Lina quietly said, "Now then, off to Amelia's!"

            By asking directions once, and Zel looking down on the city from Pidgeot's back, they easily found the Saillune residence.  It wasn't all that hard, really.  Their house was by far the largest house /or/ building in the metropolitan area.  Unfortunately, although they left the Gym well before high noontime, the sun was setting when they finally got there.  After the late morning people woke up in Saffron, the streets were as busy as bees during mating season.  The numerous roads on top of roads, with some leading to dead ends and others to other cities or towns, didn't help their case at all.  Nevertheless, the trio reached their next planned destination.

           It turns out, that the Salliune family as well as some other important guests, were having dinner at the moment.  Okay, it was actually supper, but what's the difference?  (:P People can have supper and dinner separately right?  I think supper goes first)

            Lina rang the doorbell from behind the tall, speared, black gates, that acted as a barrier between her and the property.  An aged voiced, probably that of a butler, answered, "Yes?  Who's there?"

            Lina spoke up happily into the receiver.  "The name's Lina.  Zel and Gourry are with me.  We're friends of Phil and Amelia.  We're here for hopefully a short visit."

            The reply back came as a bit of a surprise to Lina.  "Oh!  Zelgadis-sama, is that you?  Quickly, open the gates William-san!"

            The black pearl gates parted with spine-chilling groans just as the porch light flickered on.  As they walked up the cobblestone driveway, Gourry looked around with an impressed air about him.  Intricate topiaries of legendary pokemon lined the straight walkway on either side.  Behind them, tall garden hedges surrounded a garden of flowers, designed to look like a certain pattern when in full bloom, that mirrored the other side of the path.

            The house itself was a large Victorian model.  Together with white pillars on the front porch, were the high Monticello windows that showed themselves in all three stories.  The very doors were of grandiose quality.  Lina looked back at Gourry in the corner of her eye as she walked.

            "Hey, Gourry, what's with your expression?  Have you never been to a fancy estate before?"

            Gourry continued to look around, amazed, as he answered, "Nope.  My family wasn't all that rich growing up so we never really had the opportunity.  What about you?"

            The butler had opened the front door for them, and another awaited to lead them to the dining hall.  Lina answered with her hands behind her head.  "My family's not too rich either.  We'd like to say we are, but we aren't.  I've been to mansion before though.  Lots and lots of them.  If I can, I always try to stay or eat at the richest place, and that usually happens to be mansions."

            Zel started, "Is that why-"

            "Yup.  I wouldn't be here otherwise."

            Zel nodded in understanding.

            The inside of the house was even more glamorous than the outside.  After the long front hallway, it opened up to a large room that split up into several different paths.  On the left was a long hallway to the west wing, while the right lead to the east.  Directly ahead were two pairs of slightly curved stairways the connected on the second floor.  The second floor looked very similar to the first, with a hallway going left and right and a doorway directly in the middle.  Between the staircases, perfectly aligned with the matching double doors above it, was a pair of double doors.  From these doors, an energetic Amelia burst through.

            In a flying leap, her arms managed to wrap themselves around Zel's waist, the momentum forcing Zel to spin around in a circle.  When Amelia let go, Zel was still blushing as he looked the other way.

            "Zelgadis-san!  I'm so glad you could make it!  Are you staying long?  This means you can come to my birthday celebration right?  Right, Zelgadis-san?"

           Zelgadis put a hand on his face and groaned into it.  He then tilted his head back so that he could see Amelia.  "Look, I only happened to travel here by chance.  That doesn't mean I came here just to see you."

            Amelia's eyes immediately became on the verge of tears.  She put the fingernail of her thumb at the entrance of her mouth, with her other fist supporting her elbow.  To finish, Amelia whimpered softly as those big blue eyes looked into Zelgadis'.  Zelgadis sweated.

            Lina thought this was perfect timing to butt in.  "B-but I did.  I came here /just/ to see you.  Do you mind if we spend the night here?  I'm including Zel, Gourry, and myself, of course."

            Amelia's eyes lit up at this, and she rubbed her eyes on her arm.  She replied back happily, "Of course!  You must be tired!  Come on into dining hall and say hello to Daddy!  Wait 'til I tell him I'm having my first sleepover!"

            As Amelia pulled Lina along by her hand, Lina leaned back and whispered to Zel, "Oh yay.  We made one little girl happy tonight."

            He rolled his eyes in response.  "Oh Whoopee."

            "Oh, well if it isn't Lina-chan!  Gourry-san and Zelgadis-san as well!"

            A chill went up Lina's back then.  She still couldn't get over the fact that Phil, Amelia's father, looked as if he should be in a horror film.  He reminded her of those dwarves her sister had read to her about all those years ago.  If not a dwarf, then maybe a bandit.

            Upon seeing two other people seated at the table, Lina's instinct told her that she should be extra polite.  She formally bowed towards them and said as she rose, "Good evening."

            If anything, the guests were taken aback by her formality.  In this day and age, you would almost never see someone do something like that, especially a child.

            The two other guests stood up.  One of them, a graying mistress, said, "Well, as it is getting late, we should be going now.  It was nice to meet your daughters Phil-san.  We wish you the best of luck in the election.  Rest assured that you have our votes."

            Phil stood up.  "I'll walk you to the door."

            As soon as the adults left the room, Lina turned to Amelia.  "Daughters?  Does she think that /I'm/ Phil's daughter too?  And what's this about an election?"

            "Come on, sit down.  I don't know about the daughters thing, but you made a good impression, I'm sure of it!  Those two were Mr. and Mrs. Vanheider.  They're the most influential people in Saffron City.  Aside from the mayor, of course.  This election is just a re-election for the mayor, but Daddy's only other competitor is worrying him a little."

            Zel asked, "Who is it?"

            "Umm…I heard Daddy talking about it before… I think Rezo Akahoushi?"

            Zel's eyes widened.  "It can't be…Rezo died four months ago."

A/N:  How do you like the little itty bitty cliffy?  ^_^  You realize of course that I can't have Rezo go through all that trouble with Shabrinigdo, well, maybe I can if I just fix it a little.  ^_~  Anyways, you've read it, now review it.  Sorry this chapter took so long by the way!


	8. Rocket Jam

A/N: (^w^) Well, just give it time.  They've been having it pretty easy thus far, so let's add some more Slayers mixtures! ^_^

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon or Slayers.

Rocket Jam

            Amelia furrowed her eyebrows in confusion.  Stubbornly, she responded, "No he isn't.  I saw him yesterday.  Rezo-san was perfectly fine."

            Zel clenched his shaking fists under the table.  He looked down as he softly spoke.  "I-it can't be true.  I was there…I saw him get caught in the lab explosion.  There's no way he could have survived." With a resolute growl, Zel hastily asked, "Where is this Rezo that you speak of?  I have to see for myself."

            Amelia put a finger to her lower lip in thought.  "Um…I dunno where he lives or anything, but Daddy's holding a gala or something like that tomorrow night.  He invited Rezo-san and Eris-san too.  I think if you want to see them that would be the place for you."

            Zel hesitated.  "Really?  Alright."  He turned to Lina.  "You don't mind, do you?"

            Lina jumped a little.  "Huh?  Oh, no.  Go right ahead.  Hey Amelia, you wouldn't happen to have any pokemon would you?"

            Amelia shook her head solemnly.  "I don't.  I'm too young.  I'll be getting one next year though!"

            Lina raised an eyebrow and said, "Really?  Eh….you like pokemon?"

            "Of course!  They're loving defenders of justice!"

            There was a collective sweatdrop at that.  "Erm…okay…What's your favorite pokemon?"

            "Starmie!  It's just so pretty!"

            Lina sweatdropped again.  "Are any pokemon on the property?"

            "Yes!  My Daddy is taking care of some while his friend is away.  Wanna see?"

            Lina grinned at Zel.  "You don't mind, do you?"

            He half-heartedly grinned back.  "Go right ahead."

            Amelia jumped up to lead them out back.  Along the way, the travelers received a glimpse of the huge mansion that was Amelia's home.  The floor was a beautiful swirled jade marble, and the long pearly stairway had a smooth curve to it.  In the vast backyard, a large variety of flowers and sweet smelling herbs covered the ground in a blanket of detailed flora.

            Amelia walked around calling out various pokemon nicknames, and looked around for the pokemon.  After a few minutes of no results, she began to get worried.  Quickly, she sought out the gardener and asked where the pokemon were.  The gardener spoke in a different language, supposedly Spanish, and angrily said that he had no idea and the mongrels were better left unfound.  Luckily, no one there could understand him, so his impertinence would not be the cause of his sudden lack of a career, at least not today.

            With an impatient sigh, Amelia ran off to find someone who /could/ tell her where the pokemon were.  She was becoming more worried by the minute.  Finally, after several tries, they finally found someone with reliable knowledge.  The pokemon feeder, Jean Paul (It's French ^o^) related what he knew.  "It vas horribler!  Zee agents in ze black suits arrived not to longs ago.  Zey ties me up and steals all ze pokemon.  I is very sorry, mademoiselle Amelia."

            Amelia consoled the old worker.  "Don't be too hard on yourself, Jean Paul.  It wasn't your fault."  Amelia sighed.  Absently she wondered, "What will we tell Mr. Lucas, though?  He trusted us with his pokemon…"

            Lina leaned forward innocently, and suggested, "If you're so worried, why don't you just go and find them?"

            Amelia stopped and thought about this.  Worriedly, she looked up at Lina and asked, "Will you come with me?  I'm too scared to go alone (think 9 peoples!  She's nine!)."

            Lina nervously smiled.  "Sure, why not?  I don't have anything better to do."

            Amelia cheered.  Confidence restored, she pointed up diagonally and proclaimed, "Then let's begin our search!"

            Lina sighed and sweatdropped again.  Lina looked to Zel and Gourry.  "Want to come?  I have no idea how long this is going to take."

            Zel and Gourry glanced at each other.  They both shrugged.  Lina gave them a discouraging wave of her hand.  She started to walk towards the door.  In a swift turn, she declared, "Bah.  I'll do this myself.  Amelia, just make a list of the pokemon that are missing, and I'll find them.  If they have names, put that down too.  You two," Lina directed her attention to her two friends, "Just sit tight and eat or whatever.  Just remember that I want my share of food when I come back."

            With that, Lina left the barn like building.  The three looked at each other.  Gourry wondered, "How much does she mean by 'my share'?"

            With sparkles in her eyes, Amelia announced, "It doesn't matter.  Lina-san's a great upholder of justice!  When she comes back, we'll have a banquet in her honor!"

            Gourry and Zel looked at each other uneasily.  Suddenly, Jean Paul appeared and offered Amelia a piece of paper with writing on it.  Amelia looked at it, looked at Jean Paul, thanked him, and ran off with the paper after Lina.  They could only guess that it was the pokemon list that Lina had asked for.

            Lina sighed.  She said she'd find them, but it was harder than she first thought.  As it turns out, about one or two dozen pokemon were taken, but their captor left no real tracks.  Lina was currently on the outskirts of town.  She had her Pyro at her side to attack at a moment's notice.  Lina had a determined will when she put her mind to it.  She realized it was too dark to see anything that night, so Lina went back and said that she'd look in the morning.  Well, now it was late into the afternoon the next day, and she had been searching since dawn to no avail.

Lina slumped down a nearby tree trunk to rest.  Turning to Pyro, she asked, "Where do you think they are Pyro?  And why can't I seem to find them?"

            Pyro made an unsure sound.  "(I don't know.  Use a bird pokemon to look from the sky.)"

            Lina snapped her fingers.  "Good idea!  Why didn't I think of that?  Who should I use?  I know!  Spade, go!"

            Lina released her Spearow into the air.  She told it to look around and see if it found anything out of place, and report back to them.  It squawked its understanding and flew off.  Lina watched it go over the treetops, out of sight.  Lina shrugged and put her hands behind her head.  Turning to Pyro, she said, "Come on Pyro, let's take a walk.  Maybe, by chance, we'll find out where they are.  I could be all wrong on my approach though.  The captors could be long gone by now.  Oh well.  Let's hope not, right?"

            "Char!"

            Less than a quarter of an hour passed before Spade returned.  Apparently, according to Pyro, it had found a large Team Rocket base not too far away.  Lina put two and two together.  Team Rocket was a foundation known for stealing pokemon, among other things.  Most workers wore black suits, with a large, red "R" on their shirts.  It had to be them!  Lina ran to follow Spade back to the base.  She sincerely hoped that the pokemon were still there.

            Before long, they reached the edge of a clearing.  Lina hid behind a tree to take in the scenario before deciding her plan of action.  Stretching for at least 50 yards around the inside of the clearing was a tall, metal, barbed-wire fence.  In the center was a huge block-like building that was gray in color.  Above a steel door garage, there was a very large red "R".  Sentries were posted at all entrances, and several more checked Team Rocket members going into the garages in trucks.  The trucks were all unmarked gray vehicles, but with her overly sensitive ears, Lina overheard the contents of the trucks from one of the guards.  Sneaking back behind the tree, Lina devised her plan, with the help of her top pokemon.

            At Lina's command, Pyro executed a perfectly good, and large fireball and sent it directly into the middle of the clear grass area.  Like Lina planned, it made a nice, big explosion, as the sentries were sent into disarray.  Deciding for the head-on approach, Lina made her grand entrance by stepping out from the fire that her pokemon had made.  Pyro was at her side as she haughtily confronted her current enemy.  Unfortunately, they didn't have quite the reaction she expected.

            One of the closer guards said aloud, much too loud for Lina's liking, "What the- it's just some pint-sized little kid and her pet lizard!  What should we do, boss?"

            A slightly larger, more authoritative figure gruffly walked forward from inside the garage.  With a dismissive shrug, the male commanded, "Capture her and take her pokemon.  We'll deal with her later."

            Stressmarks appeared on the back of Lina's head.  How dare they dismiss _her, Lina Inverse, like that?!  They're gonna pay…_

            Rolling up her sleeves for emphasis, Lina took an angry step forward.  "Let's go Pyro!  It's all you!"

            The guards started to surround her.  One guard leaped towards her with a net.  As Lina easily jumped out of the way, it only served to annoy her more.  Eyeing the crowd's position, she immediately decided which attack to use.  "Pyro, let's finish this in one blow!  Fire Geyser now!"

            With that command, Pyro repeated the attack he used in the Saffron City Gym.  The end result was several charred circles on the ground, and no standing sentries.  Luckily for him, the higher up boss had already left.  Returning the exhausted Pyro to its pokeball, Lina ran into the nearest entrance.  Surprisingly, since the boss hadn't considered her a threat, and the guards were all burnt to a crisp, the halls were completely clear.  Lina had no problem with that.  On the spur of the moment, she decided that she could use Team Rocket to level up her pokemon.  Lina called forth her Pikachu.

            Lina skidded to a halt when she passed by a map.  Upon going back to look at it, Lina saw that it was an outline of the base.  It wasn't that hard to figure out where to go from there: three large rooms in a row were labeled "POKEMON VAULT #1", "POKEMON VAULT #2", and "POKEMON VAULT #3".  As she made her way towards the vaults, she figured that while she was at it, she might as well free all the other pokemon too.  For every guard she came across, she let Pikachu give them a crisp thunderbolt.  Unfortunately, by the time she reached the vaults, the alarm had been raised.

            Lina peeked into the first door after knocking out the guards.  She gaped at what she saw.  The walls and room was lined with dozens of columns and rows of pokemon, all in cages.  Lina wondered where they got them all without it being on the news or whatever.  Shaking her head, Lina went into the room and locked it behind her.  Lina quickly walked up and down all of the aisles, and compared the pokemon to the list.  Not a single one matched.  However, she stopped at every single cage, picked the lock, and confided in the pokemon that she was here to help them.  As she went, Lina couldn't help but count the cages.  When she finished freeing all the pokemon in the first vault, she counted a total of 48 pokemon, with several duplicates.  Rounding them all up in the front of the room, Lina addressed them all.

            She informed them that she was on a mission to find the Lucas' pokemon, but if they cooperated, she would rescue them too.  All the pokemon cheered at this.  Seeking out the only Magmar, Lina directed it to burn a large opening into the wall that she pointed to.  While he was at work, Lina continued.  She told the rest of the pokemon to stay together in a pack, and follow her Spearow back to the mansion.  If anyone were to attempt to grab them along the way, Lina instructed the pokemon to use their powers to fend them off, and work together when necessary.

By the time Lina finished talking and the pokemon all agreed on her plan, Magmar had finished burning through the hole.  Lina praised him quickly, and released Spearow.  Lina told them to go quickly, and for them to trust her judgment.  Like a stampede of Tauros, the various pokemon marched out of the vault into the neighboring forest area.  Meanwhile, Lina released her Pyro, healed it with a quick potion, and swiftly made her way to vault #2.  Taking care of the guards, Lina repeated her actions in this vault.  This time, she had her Pyro make the hole, and her Pikachu led them.

Lina repeated the procession one last time, and finally found Lucas' pokemon there.  After freeing the rest of the pokemon, Lina counted up the pokemon she was in charge of.  All accounted for, Lina followed the pokemon out into the forest by the way of Pyro's impromptu exit.  She headed directly to the other pokemon groups, but stopped when she heard the sounds of pursuit.  Lina quickly called for Lucas' pokemon to join up with the others, as she and her pokemon would deal with Team Rocket.  Making a quick plan, Lina dove into action.

For her first action, she released Sandshrew.  Lina ordered it to make a deep trench to separate the fleeing pokemon and Team Rocket.  Next, Lina called forth her Zubat to track down where all of the Team Rocket members.  Once she found out from Pyro that most were either at the base or headed towards her, Lina went on to her next choice of action.  She hesitated only a second before deciding to try out one of her perhaps strongest pokemon out for the first time.  Taking a deep breath, she took out her occupied master ball.  At the sight of the first clump of Team Rocket members, she released her pokemon.  Even she was amazed at what came out of it.  Towering over everything else by a good twenty or thirty feet, was Lina's Dragonite.  Quickly, Lina checked its stats before doing anything else.

Name: Dragu

Race: Pokemon

Species: Dragonite

Type: Dragon/Flying

Height: 21' 9"

Weight: 1389 lbs.

Area: Viridian City

Level: 62

Attacks:

-Dragon Rage

-Slam

-Wing Attack

-Outrage

Levels to Evolution: None

Status: Caught (Master Ball)

Overall Grade: A+

            After getting over her initial shock, Lina smirked with confidence.  This would easily be her strongest pokemon, but her sister had always taught her to always appreciate things when she had them, and to not abuse things that had a mind of its own.

            "Alright, Dragu!  Let's test our bond by using Dragon Rage on them!"

            The large Dragonite swiftly turned to face Lina.  Lina knew that if she backed down now, the pokemon would never listen to her, so she stood strong.  After a moment's glare, the Dragonite turned back to face its foes.  With a loud snuff, the Dragonite unleashed its fury.  From its mouth, a golden beam struck a straight line through the Rocket defenses.  Though Dragu aimed in a line, the aftereffect explosion was large enough in magnitude to completely demolish everything from the far end of the base to five feet in front of Dragonite.  In one effortless attack, Dragu had defeated scores of adversaries.  The lasting end result was a huge crater surrounded by forest on the outskirts of Saffron City.  Lina cheered.  Before facing any possible rebellion, Lina returned Dragonite to its pokeball.

            Lina looked over Dragonite's handywork.  Seeing the bottom of the crater littered with bodies, Lina decided to skid down and see if they were alive.  They were, but barely and very charred.  Not worrying about anyone hearing her or not, Lina proclaimed over the crater, "That should teach you a lesson!  Never underestimate the skill of Lina Inverse and the power of her pokemon!"

            With that, Lina ran off to follow the other pokemon.

            Later that night, Lina faced a banquet of food in her honor.  Ever since the pokemon had arrived, people had been coming to claim the pokemon.  It was a very long ordeal, since Lina wanted to verify with the pokemon their claims.  It wasn't as hard or taxing as the actual rescue, but it was tiring and time-consuming all the same.  Lina knew that she deserved this feast, so she ate to her hearts content.  Having been tired out from battling so much, Lina ate more than usual to make up for it.  In preparation for this, Gourry and Zel had already eaten beforehand, so they helped the staff feed all 159 pokemon still left.  By the time Lina finished eating her fill, the pokemon had too.  As it was very late now, the travelers went to bed.  That night, extra guards were put around and inside the pokemon stables.

            The next morning, Lina woke up bright and early.  She hadn't really wanted to, but the sun directly shined on her face from outside her window.  With decisive resolve, Lina went to visit the pokemon.  Upon announcing herself, the guard let her go in.  Most of the pokemon were still asleep, but Lina's pokemon that she had planted in various places in the barn awoke to her calling.  Her Charmeleon, Pikachu, Sandslash, Raticate, and Spearow all made their way to her with deft dodging skills.  Lina quietly asked Pyro if anything much happened last night.  He answered with a negative.  However, Pyro continued to say that after talking with quite a few pokemon during feeding time, he discovered that almost half of the pokemon were wild.  Her other pokemon made sounds of agreement.  Lina raised an eyebrow at this.  A small smile tugged at her lips.

            Lina sat back and waited patiently for the rest to wake up naturally.  While waiting, she groomed and fed all of her pokemon.  At around dawn, a Pidgeotto imitated a rooster and crowed its natural alarm.  Lina bit back a laugh as she watched all the pokemon wake up with a jolt, and some flying up into the air in surprise.  Nevertheless, she stood up and sent Spearow to quiet the rowdy rooster-like Pigeotto.  Lina went to stand up on a wooden crate.  When everything was quiet again, she began her speech.

            "Pokemon of all species, shapes, and sizes, I have something to pass onto you – a patch of information.  All I ask for now is for you to listen.  You may or may not already know me well, but my name is Lina Inverse.  I'm a pokemon trainer aspiring to, like most, be a pokemon master.  However, I can't do that alone.  I need the help and support of strong, faithful, obedient pokemon.  I know many of you probably have trainers to go back to, but for those of you with no past allegiances, I hope you can find the courage inside yourselves to join my team.  If you do, I can guarantee that together, we will walk the path to greatness.  So what do you say?"

            All of the pokemon erupted in cheers.  After a few moments, Lina nodded and gestured for them to hold silence once more.  "Good.  Just so I'm sure, could all of the pokemon that don't want to come with me, please come forward?  The rest of you back up a little."

            The pokemon did as they were told.  Only about twenty of the pokemon came forward.  Lina approached each of them, and as she scanned them with her statidex, she stamped a green symbol for 'taken' on their foreheads.  After finishing, Lina nodded her approval and looked to the rest of the pokemon.  To make absolute certain, Lina asked, "So am I to understand that everyone that doesn't have a green stamp will allow me to capture you?"

            The stable erupted in another loud cheer that Lina could only take for 'Yes!'  Lina smirked, as she began to produce Pokeball after pokeball from her cape, and went on a catching spree.  For what she examined to be the better pokemon, she used special pokeballs that would not be transferred immediately.  By the time breakfast was over, every single willing pokemon was in a pokeball.  Looking at the ten pokeballs that she had captured the best pokemon with, she smirked as she wondered what Prof. Oak would think with the sudden new wave of pokemon so early in the morning.

A/N: YAY!! FINISHED! Okay, let me just say a few things real quick.  First, if you think Lina is acting way to polite and proper, just think about it.  Luna could only be strict, bossy, polite, and proper, right?  So, even if Lina hate Luna before she started her travels, the discipline would still follow Lina until she broke it, right?  ^_^  Just remember that in this, Lina's only 10.  Also, in Slayers, you don't know what Lina was like when she /first/ started 'killing bandits' right?  ^_^ All well and good.  I'll stop my rambling now so you can review!

P.S. In case you haven't noticed, Dragu's Dragon Rage represents Lina's Dragon Slave, Team Rocket represents bandits, and the pokemon can be considered the loot that Lina steals from them.  Oh, BTW, MERRY CHRISTMAS!  (I'll be gone for the next two weeks, so don't expect any updates anytime soon!  Ciao!


	9. The Past, the Present, the Future

A/N: YAY! I'm back and I got a review!  Wait.  Only one?  Aww come on.  You can do better than _that_.  Ah wells.  Here's the next chapter.

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon or Slayers.

Ch. 9: Trouble from the Past, Present, and Future

            Lina yawned.  She was exhausted after yesterday's and this morning's ordeal.  Lina brightened, however, when she remembered where she was and how much food there was.  With food clear in her mind's eye, Lina set off for the breakfast nook.

            After breakfast, Lina informed the family that she had to go somewhere, but Zel would stay for the gala.  At this, Zel seemed a bit disgruntled, as if he were having second thoughts.  If Lina saw this, she made no comment of it, and started on her way with Gourry.

            Lina's first stop was Lavender City.  Not too many people knew it, but Lavender City had an official pokemon gym in it.  With fast paced traveling, she arrived there that very night.  She sought out the pokemon center and set to work.  Lina knew that the Lavender City Gym used ghost pokemon.  That much was obvious from the town's reputation.  Therefore, Lina would have to make her pokemon team reflect on that type.  In other words, no normal pokemon.

            Long after others had gone to sleep, Lina had made out her plan of action as well as her pokemon team.  It went as follows: Charmeleon (Pyro), Pikachu (Pico), Victreebel (Vick), Gyarados (Gary), Gengar (Gene), Ditto (Dot), and for "insurance" Dragonite (Dragu)'s pokeball was tied to a string around her neck.

            Using a program in her Statidex, Lina navigated her way to the gym the very next morning after breakfast.  Gourry went along with her to watch, but he was still sleepy as it was still very early.  The building they had stopped in front of looked old and dreary.  Its walls were as gray as the sky before a flood.  A tall tower with seemingly horns and a ghoulish face loomed over them in the background.  The town as a whole had a look and feel of foreboding, but this was the heart of it all.  Taking a deep breath, Lina pushed open the doors and proclaimed her challenge.

            "I, Lina Inverse, have come to challenge the Lavender City Gym Leader!"

            Inside was very dark; the only light came from the open door.  From that light however, Lina noticed that the place was a very cut and dry gym.  A pokemon fighting arena (I forget if they had a specific name) lay squarely in the middle of the bare room.  There were no windows, but Lina could make out an open doorway to a staircase directly across the room from her.  From there, a shadow descended upon the room.  The figure nonchalantly strolled into the room, a hand on his/her hip, and a decisive slant to his/her figure.  With their free hand, they snapped their fingers.  Immediately, a dim light turned on directly in the middle of the field.

            Lina could now see the figure clearly.  It was definitely a girl, perhaps in her mid-20's, wearing a black bandana over her raven haired- head, a loose cut black shirt with a white skull on it, and ripped dark blue jeans.  She had a spiked collar around her neck, as well as her wrists.  Lina was a bit startled as the woman stared coldly, unemotionally, at her with gray eyes that seemed to at first be dull, but hid a determined spirit.

            In a monotonous voice, the woman introduced herself.  "I'm Takai, the current Lavender City Gym Leader.  A three-on-three pokemon battle.  The challenger may substitute at any time, but the gym leader may not.  Let's battle."

            Both trainers entered the trainer's boxes on either side of the field.  Takai sent a Ghastly in first.  For insurance, Lina checked it with the statidex.

Name: Gate

Race: Pokemon

Species: Spearow

Type: Ghost/Poison

Height: 4' 4"

Weight: 0.3 lbs.

Area: Lavender City (Pokemon Tower)

Level: 24

Attacks:

-Hypnosis

-Spite

-Nightshade

-Confuse Ray

Levels to Evolution: 1

Status: Captured (Lavender City Gym)

Overall Grade: A

            Lina chewed her lower lip a little.  This might be a bit challenging.  Quickly, Lina formulated a plan and chose her first pokemon, Gengar.

            "Let the battle commence.  Ghastly, use Nightshade."

            Lina launched forward with a command of her own.  "Do it as we practiced Gene!  Now!"

            The command was barely out of her lips before Gene dodged Gate's attack.  As if unused to this, Gate looked around, searching for his foe.  Lina smirked.  "Nightshade cage!"

            Immediately, Gate was trapped within a cage of black Nightshade bars.  Gene soon appeared again outside of the cage facing its opponent.  Gate attempted to disappear and reappear outside, but something went awry with that plan.  As soon as he disappeared, he went into the form of a light and bounced around the cage interior.  Gate reappeared ten times more haggard than when he had first disappeared.  Lina smirked.  Takai seemed to be taken off guard, but she soon smirked as well.

            "I commend you on the skill of which you have trained your pokemon, but this will not end here.  Gate.  Hypnosis."

            Psychic blue waves began to appear from Ghastly's ever drooping eyes.  It took both Gate and Takai by surprise when the waves bounced off the cage walls and echoed back to hit Ghastly.  That was it.  Gate was down and out.  If he hadn't been asleep, the fall would have injured him into unconsciousness.

            As soon as Takai returned Gate to his pokeball, Gene dispersed the cage.  He seemed a little tired out, but he could still fight.  Next, Takai sent out Haunter.  Lina stayed with Gene and made the first move.

            "Gene- Mean Look!"

            "Hate, dodge and use Curse!"

            Lina was taken aback by this, but recovered quickly.

            "Dodge it.  Scan for Haunter and use Confuse Ray!"

            Gengar's aim was directly on target, for even when Haunter was invisible, Gengar still hit it dead on.  Haunter reappeared with confused eyes.  Takai risked commanding Hate to use Nightshade.  At the same time, Lina directed Gene to do the same.  Gene's was more powerful, and it forced back Hate's attack until it knocked him down.  Haunter was unconscious.  Takai's face remained emotionless as she returned Haunter to his pokeball.  Takai did not seem anywhere near surrendering as she released her final pokemon- Gengar.

            "Gash, use Hypnosis."

            Lina retaliated.  "Gene, Curse."

            Both attacks hit home.  Gene was asleep, but Gash was cursed.  Lina returned Gengar, complimented him lightly, and chose her next pokemon.

            "Pyro, I choose you!  Fireball 101!"

            Pyro entered the arena with a swift and sweet ball of fire emitting from his mouth.  With his trained expertise, Pyro launched it straight at Gash.  Though cursed, Gash managed to dodge it.  However, as Lina caught Gash in a split-second wince as soon as he reappeared, Lina knew that the curse was affecting him.  Taking courage from this, she had Pyro attack with Fire Spin.  Normally, pokemon like Pyro who were still under Lvl. 50 (He was only 28 at best), couldn't do Fire spin, but that's only if they learned it naturally.  Lina knew how these attacks worked already, and simply trained Pyro to achieve it.  Maybe the curse had slowed his reflexes, or maybe the sudden stream of fire encircling it had stunned him long enough for it to envelop him, maybe it was both.  Either way, it caught Gash, and when the fire dispersed, a fainted Gengar flopped to the ground.

            With an almost disappointed exhale, Takai returned Gash to his pokeball.  Her back straight, and eyes once more emotionless, Takai made her way across the room to Lina.  "You have trained your pokemon well.  Take this Ghost Badge as proof of your victory today."

            Lina struggled to keep her face straight as well as she accepted the badge that Takai held out to her.  However, as soon as her hand left Takai's, and it held her newest badge, Lina couldn't keep it in any longer.  Lina cheered and hugged Pyro around his neck.  Very happily, Lina thanked Takai.  Before much more time had passed, Lina and Gourry left the gym.  By now, it was early afternoon.  Time for lunch!

            From a window on the second story of the gym, a silhouette watched the two trainers leave.  As Takai returned upstairs, the figure did not turn before asking, "What do you think of them?"

            Takai inclined her head slightly out of respect.  "I'm not too sure about the guy, but the one I battled…I believe she called herself Lina Inverse…she trains her pokemon in a way never before seen by me, or anyone I know.  It may sound strange, but I think I learned a little just from battling her like that."

            The shadow now turned, and stepped into the light of the window.  From there, he could be better seen, but he looked much more foreboding.  To Zelgadis, it would have seemed to be a ghost, but to Takai…he was family.  No, he was her beloved father…in law.  "Let's watch them a while longer.  This Lina Inverse…may be useful for my plans."

            Lina strolled the streets in contented silence after having a well deserved buffet of food.  Next to her, also quite content, was Gourry, whistling a mindless tune.  After calming herself with her walk, they made their way back towards Saffron City.

            By walking very fast, Lina and Gourry made it back by a few hours to midnight.  There, they had a luxurious dinner, at the ongoing gala.  Despite his earlier willingness, Zelgadis was sulking in the corner, no doubt facing the horrors on people's faces when they saw him, at least in his own mind.  With much coaxing, Lina finally dragged Zelgadis around to ask around about Rezo Akahoushi.  As luck would have it, most answered that they had not seen him for over two months now.  Apparently, Rezo was the type who would not go out of his way to speak or see anyone without a very good and necessary reason.  Late into the night, they finally gave up and retired in hopes of a fitful sleep.

            That night, Lina dreamt of home, and not the good memories.  She recalled whenever she was naughty even to the tiniest extent, her sister would punish her in ways the outwardly seemed 'getting off easy' but it was really tormenting Lina inside.  Lina tossed and turned all night, and ended up throwing her pillow, blanket, and by morning, herself, off the bed.

            Zelgadis was not that far off.  He dreamt of home as well – playing with his grandfather had always been fun for him.  Zelgadis was a serious child even at a young age.  By the age of five, Zel had won a chess tournament, beating experienced players 5-10 times his age.  All of a sudden, the lighthearted dream turned into a nightmare as he witnessed his grandfather's demise once more.

            Gourry dreamed of food.  Miles upon piles of delicious food.  Chocolate parfait swirled with vanilla…whipped cream on top…and a cherry on top of _that_.  Mmmmmm…..(:P)

            As soon as the sun had risen, Lina was off.  She couldn't wait for Gourry or Zel to wake up naturally, so she had Pyro light a fire under their behinds.  After a quick breakfast, they headed towards Celadon City.  On the way, they came across a large canyon area where a whole pack of Mankey and Primeape lived.  It didn't take long for the travelers to be surrounded by them.  With a smirk, Lina called forth all of her pokemon excluding Dragonite.  As swift as a race car, Lina commanded her pokemon to do whatever it took to knock them all out.  In this way, Lina leveled up her pokemon so much, that Pyro was a step away from evolving, and all of her other pokemon had leveled up at least two or three levels.  Gourry and Zel watched in stunned silence as Primeape after Primeape fell to the extreme power of Lina's pokemon.  Even Gyarados, a water type, creamed his opponents.  In a matter of minutes, Lina's pokemon had completely demolished their forces.  For kicks, Lina even caught the strongest one there.

           Not much later, they arrived at Celadon City.  That night, they slept peacefully once more, unaware that as they slept, people that sought them out, and people they would search for, were currently on their way to Celadon City as well.

A/N: Sorry I'm late!  I'm also sorry if this chapter has turned out to be really short.  Really I am!  I hope you review this time!  Please continue reading my fic!  Thx!  Bye!


	10. Explosive Encounter

A/N: Hm?  Oh, you're right.  I forgot to change the Spearow part.  Thanks for noticing – I meant to change it but I must have skipped over it.  Oh, thanks for the reviews so far!  For your dedication, this chapter is much longer than the others.  On with the story.  By the way, if I happen to offend anybody with the way I have certain people act, I apologize in advance.

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon or Slayers or anything else that isn't mine to own.

Ch. 10 Explosive Encounter

Meeting Bad or Meeting Good?

            As Lina strolled down the boulevard, it was hard to miss the intoxicating scent of perfume coming from a nearby shop.  Lina struggled with a small inner demon.  Growing up with a "perfect" older sister like Luna, she had always been accustomed to perfume and such things.  Reminiscing, Lina found that the smell of roses and violet reminded her most of her sister.  On instinct, she followed the scent into the shop.  Zel and Gourry skidded to a stop upon noticing Lina's change in direction.  Glancing at each other, they shrugged and followed her somewhat reluctantly.

            A bell chimed as Lina opened the door.  A friendly teenage girl with purple hair greeted them at the door.  Bowing low enough to be almost eye level with Lina, she said, "Why, hello there.  Welcome to our perfume shop.  How can we help you?"

            Lina blinked.  She almost fell over at the overwhelming sense of déjà vu that hit her just then.  Shaking it off, Lina asked in her sweetest voice possible, "Um…well, do you happen to have a fusion blend of roses and violet?"

            Standing straight, the girl looked up with a finger on her lower lip in thought.  "That's a peculiar blend.  I think we might have a few bottles of it though.  Come on in and let's see.  I don't suppose you gentlemen would also like a little of something?  We sell cologne as well."

            Zel and Gourry instantly put their hands up in front of them in defense.  Zel answered quickly, "No, no thank you.  We're just waiting for her."

            The girl nodded as if expecting this, but smiled at his politeness in saying so.  Without another word, she led them to the counter where two other girls were chatting.  The first teenager interrupted them and asked if they had any rose-violet fusion blends left.  The blue-haired girl looked at the other and said, "I'm pretty sure I saw a few bottles of it in the back.  Most people don't ask for that one.  Are you sure you want it?"

            Lina nodded.  "I'm sure.  I grew up with it – I can handle it."

            The third girl nodded and went into the backroom.  A few minutes later, she returned with a blended violet and rose colored bottle.  The smell was stronger than ever.  Lina nodded and almost greedily took it as she handed it to her.  Holding the bottle close to her, she took a deep intake of breath through her nose. Before anyone realized it, she had fallen backwards onto the floor.  Letting out a soft laugh, Lina nodded as if to herself.  "This is definitely it.  Nothing comes close to this smell.  How much would it be for two?"

            The green-haired girl helped Lina up again.  Gourry scratched his head and commented somewhat dumbly, "Oi…Lina.  You sure you want two?  I mean…you don't exactly seem like the kind of person who would use or even buy perfume."

            Lina smiled wanly.  She stuck the bottle under Gourry's nose and told him to first take a whiff of it.  His eyes shot wide open, and he backed up a little.  Lina pulled back her hand with the bottle and smirked.  Gourry stumbled as he remarked, "That's the strangest thing I've ever smelled, and I know the Cerulean sisters – they have almost every type of cosmetics that'll make them look and or smell better.  What's that blend though?  I feel like I want to leave and come closer at the same time."

            Lina snickered slightly.  She looked towards the girls who were also smiling.  Taking a deep breath, Lina recited, "That's no surprise.  This is a perfect mixture of the sweetest flowers and essence of Gloom.  There is also alcohol, water, and a few other smaller ingredients, but those are the ones that you notice the most.  'Gloomy Violet' is its name; distributed from a factory right here in Celadon City."

            Zel raised an eyebrow.  "You realize you avoided the actual question, right Lina?  How do you know so much about this perfume and /why/ do you want to buy it?"

            Lina grinned like the little kid that she was.  "My sister always wore this perfume.  Every time she walked into a room, most of the people would act like Gourry did.  Those with stronger senses got knocked down like I did; those with an even stronger sense of smell would sometimes faint.  Basically, this perfume reminds me of her, and well, I feel kind of homesick."

            There was a brief, sentimental pause.  Lina continued, "That, and Luna's birthday is coming up and I'd know she'd kill me if I was out traveling and I didn't send something back to her.  So, I'd like one bottle to carry with me, and one to send home.  How much did you say it was?"

            The third girl, behind the counter, informed her that it was usually 45 PD (Poke Dollars ^_^), but for her, she'd offer a two for one deal.  Eyes lit up with happiness from the great deal, Lina accepted instantly.  She paid her 45 PD, and added 5 PD extra for, according to her, even having it in stock.  Gourry, and Zel soon left with a very happy Lina.  The two guys refrained from staying too close to Lina.

            Their next stop was the Pokecenter.  Lina first mailed her bottle of perfume as well as a pokeball, of which Lina did not reveal the content.  Next, Lina, Zel, and Gourry dropped their pokemon off with Nurse Joy.  From there they separated, but promised to meet up again in the lobby when they were finished.  Zel headed straight to a corner of the lobby, next to a shady plant, and waited in a sulky fashion.  Gourry went out back to watch some trainers who were battling for practice.  Lina went to the video phone and called Prof. Oak.  She grinned when he told her of his surprise when he woke up to a room full of recently transferred pokemon.  Lina asked if they were all being taken care of, and Prof. Oak nodded in an 'of course' manner.  It didn't take long before they had all met up again.

            By this time however, Nurse Joy had healed all of their pokemons' fatigue, and they took back their pokemon.  The trio continued on to stroll towards the Celadon City Gym.  Upon reaching it, the first people she noticed were the people from the perfume shop.  Lina waved to the ones at the counter as the one at the door welcomed her and asked what she needed.  Lina nodded as she answered that she was here for a gym battle with Erika, the Celadon City Gym Leader.  The girl led Lina to where Erika was "educating" a small group of kids about Gloom.  When the girl introduced Lina, Erika stood up and welcomed Lina.  The battle was soon underway with many a spectator.

            Erika chose first; her first pokemon was Tangela.  Lina, in turn, selected her newly "caught" Magmar.  Magmar's first attack was Flamethrower.  Tangela somehow dodged it and sent back a Vine Whip.  Magmar caught the "vines" in his fists, and sent a stream of fire through them to the main source.  Upon releasing the charred vines, Magmar made a rushing tackle that turned into a Fire Punch at nearly the last moment.  Tangela was defeated.  Magmar was the winner!

            Next, Erika returned Tangela and released a Weepingbell.  Lina decided to stay with Magmar.  Erika attacked first with Razor Leaf.  As if it were speed target practice, Magmar charred them all at once with a Flamethrower.  Weepingbell then used Sweet Scent in an attempt to draw Magmar closer.  It worked…at least, until Lina made Magmar snap out of it.  Unfortunately, Magmar was already close enough by that time for Weepingbell to use Wrap and then Sleep Powder.  Magmar was out like a light.  Weepingbell had won the second round.

            Lina returned Magmar, and released her Pyro, her Charmeleon.  Deciding to go for a major sneak attack, Lina told Pyro to use Dig, and dig he did.  He disappeared into a hole, and was not seen for a few moments.  Weepingbell and Erika looked around with worry.  Suddenly, Lina called out to use "Mega Brando 2.0".  Immediately, a large pillar of fire erupted all around Weepingbell.  When it cleared, Weepingbell was toast.  Pyro had won.

            The final pokemon for Erika was Gloom.  Again, Lina stuck with her pokemon until the end.  Pyro started for Gloom for a cool Flame Wheel attack.  However, Gloom sensed the approaching danger and released its foul smell.  That stopped Pyro dead in his tracks.  Lina goaded her Pyro on to get past the smell.  In seeking to please his mistress, Pyro persevered and began walking slowly towards Gloom again.  Gloom was really scared now, especially when Pyro made a Scary Face.  In close proximity, Pyro raised a claw to make the finishing blow, when Gloom suddenly used Stun Spore.  More out of habit then actually dodging it, Pyro flew back, narrowly missing the powder.  Taking a deep breath, Pyro walked a little closer and blew the stun spore back at Gloom.  Although the stun spore itself didn't affect Gloom, it got in its eyes and blinded it momentarily.  Pyro used this chance to finish it with a classic Flamethrower.  Gloom was down and out.  Lina had won the gym match.

            As Lina cheered, Pyro began to glow.  Everyone stood shell-shocked as Charmeleon evolved into Charizard.  At this, Lina cheered even more and hugged her new pokemon.  Being as obedient as a puppy, almost, Pyro hugged back.  As if remembering something, Lina turned and ran towards Erika, who was tending to Gloom.  Erika stood to congratulate Lina and give her the Rainbow Badge.  Lina thanked Erika, and requested that she call out the pokemon that were injured in today's battle.  A bit surprised, Erika hesitated, but did just that.  Lina also called forth her Magmar.  Lina took out a reasonable sized bottle with purple liquid.  She then proceeded to bend down and request that all the pokemon drink a little of it.  Instantly, all four pokemon were up and in prime condition.  Erika was both amazed and impressed by Lina's abilities both during and after the battle.  Erika thanked Lina for her help, and Lina in return thanked Erika for allowing them to battle, as well as for receiving the badge.  She returned her pokemon as did Erika.  Waving goodbye, Lina, Gourry, and Zel left.

            Wondering what to do next, they wandered through the streets of Celadon City.  Half-jokingly, Zel asked Lina if she wanted to try her luck at the casino.  Lina turned her head to look, but immediately declined.  She said that her sister would never forgive her if she spent /any/ of her hard earned money on gambling.  "A disgrace among the Inverse name" she would say, according to Lina.

            Gourry suddenly pointed to the sky, and said, "Look!"  Instinctively, Zel and Lina looked up with him.  A large flock of Spearow and Fearow crossed the sky overhead in a triangle formation.  With their sudden stop, a group of people ran into them.  Zel was the only one who didn't fall over among the collision.

            Again acting upon instinct, Lina groaned slightly from the pain, but quickly recovered enough to yell, "HEY!! WATCH WHERE YOU'RE GOING!"

            To which a short-haired redhead yelled back, "WELL WE WOULDN'T HAVE RUN INTO YOU IF YOU HADN'T STOPPED SUDDENLY!"

            Gourry interrupted as he was the first to get a good look at who they had run into.  Slowly, he verified, "…Misty?  Is that you?"

            With a start, Misty and Lina both stopped yelling.  The small group of onlookers that had stopped to see what was happening, moved along.

            Misty squinted and said, "Gourry?  Ha.. it /is/ you.  I can't mistake that long blonde hair of yours.  You /still/ haven't cut it?"

            Slightly puzzled, Lina checked Misty with her statidex.  When she learned that Misty was also a Sensational Sister, she understood how they knew each other.  As she stood up, Lina surveyed Misty's other two companions.  One had squinty eyes and a rather dark tan.  According to her statidex, he was called Brock and he was the former Gym Leader of the Pewter City Gym.  She smirked and told this to Zel, who raised an eyebrow as he looked at Brock.  She then looked toward the middle person.  Anger immediately rose towards the surface.  Checking her statidex to see if anything had changed, she was surprised to see that he now had five badges and eight pokemon.  But still, that wouldn't change what she remembered about Ash Ketchum.  Looking at the yellow pokemon nearby, she smiled warmly at the remembrance of the now lean Pikachu.

            Lina stretched her hand towards Pikachu but immediately retracted it upon remembering manners before pleasure.  Lina apologized gracefully to Misty, and helped her up.  By this time, Ash and Brock had already gotten up as well.  Gourry had stood up shortly after Lina.  Biting her lip, she mumbled, "I'm not great at this but…" Lina took a deep breath and started to speak slowly in Pikachu language.  What she said translated to, "Hey there, Kairo.  How are you doing these days?  I'm sure you're wondering how your family is doing without their big brother to protect them right?  Don't worry, they're safe and sound, with me.  Would you like to see them again?"

            Pikachu's ear shot straight up at this.  Eyes glittering with happiness, he jumped from Ash's shoulder to Lina's arms.  Lina laughed merrily as Pikachu snuggled against her.  Telling Pikachu to wait just a minute, Lina looked back at Ash with an almost evil smirk.  This scared and surprised him more than Pikachu jumping into a stranger's arms after they said a few syllables in Pika-language.  Clearing her throat, Lina spoke to Ash.  She asked where they were staying, and was told that they were staying at the Pokecenter.  Lina smirked as she replied, "What a coincidence, us too.  Shall we walk over there?"  
            Brock said that they were headed in that direction anyway, so they might as well.  Through the duration of the walk across Celadon City, Brock talked with Zel about how the gym was doing, as Misty did the same with Gourry.  Neither knew much what to say, but tried to give the best answer possible.  Meanwhile, Ash grudgingly walked behind Lina as she had Pikachu on one shoulder as she balanced the Statidex between her ear and other shoulder, while feeding Pikachu some of her special poke-blend food that she had received at home.

            She was calling Prof. Oak to transfer all of her Pikachus to her, as she had met Ash in Celadon City, and wished to arrange a quick family reunion.  Lina stopped feeding Pikachu so that she could hold the Statidex in front of her and prepare for transferal.  Soon, all six of her pokemon were traded with Prof. Oak for six Pikachus.  By that time, they had reached the Pokecenter.  Lina told them to follow her out back, which they had nothing better to do than to obey.

            Once outside again as they cut through the Pokecenter, Lina released all of her Pikachus.  At first, they weren't sure what to do.  Then, Ash's Pikachu called out to them, and they slowly approached him.  The second biggest one sniffed him, and then embraced him in a Pika-hug.  With that, the rest of the Pikachus surrounded Ash's.  Sitting down on a nearby bench, Lina gestured for the others to do the same.  As Pikachu played and hugged and was tackled and played with back, Lina started to explain.

            First of all, this was Pikachu's family.  The one who had hugged him first was his mother.  The biggest one is his father.  The leanest one is his older sister, and the two small, pudgy ones are his little brothers.  The baby one on the father's back was recently born, and is Pikachu's newest little sister.  Lina asked Ash if he knew where Pikachu came from, or more likely, where all pokemon and humans started.  When Ash couldn't answer fast enough for Lina, she continued to say that everyone started their lives with their families.  Pikachus are the type of pokemon who, in the wild, stay together and protect one another until death or trainers force them to part.  Ash would be one of those trainers.  He broke up Pikachus family just by taking away that one Pikachu.  This instantly made Ash feel guilty.

            Lina smiled as she turned to Brock.  Knowing that he was aspiring to be a pokemon breeder, Lina asked if he thought what she just said was correct.  Pondering it momentarily, Brock admitted that there was probably a lot of truth in that evaluation.  Lina smirked and took out some pokefood for the large family.  While the Pikachus surrounded Lina and the food, Ash stood looking down at his shaking hands.  The thought that entered his mind as he looked up at the pokemon was sudden: Pikachu would be happier with his family; they would be happier together.

            Before Ash could turn this thought into words, Lina called his attention.  She asked, or rather firmly demanded, that they battle.  She had no doubt that she would win, but she wanted to see if he was worthy enough to have Kairo stay by his side.  At first, Ash was puzzled about who Kairo was, before he realized that it was his Pikachu.  Getting angry that Lina thought so little of him, he accepted the challenge.  Lina's smirk widened all the more at this.  Getting into position, the 3-on-3 battle began.

            Ash's first pokemon was Pikachu, who was slightly reluctant, but ready to defend his master.  Smiling, Lina chose Pikachu's mother.  Pikachu definitely had no intention of fighting his mother, so he ran back and surrendered.  Lina laughed lightly and patted Pikachu's mother on the head.  Lina told her to return to the bench with her family.  Next, Ash chose Bulbasaur.  Deciding to prove that she could win no matter what, she released one of her extra pokemon that she hadn't sent to Prof. Oak.  It was a Diglett.  Ash, the amateur that he is, told Bulbasaur to use Vine Whip.  Digett easily dodged it by using Dig.  Bulbasaur looked around, seemingly prepared for Diglett's resurface.  That was when Lina told it to use a combination of Sand Attack and Dig.  Bulbasaur was suddenly veiled by a spinning tornado of dust, dirt, and wind.  When the dust cleared, Bulbasaur was coughing out dirt, but was still on his feet.  Bulbasaur tried to attack again with leech seed, but of course, Diglett dodged it with ease.  Diglett was then commanded to use Swift.  Eyes not yet cleared of dirt; Bulbasaur wasn't able to dodge it.  He fell, but he slowly got back on his feet, breathing harder than ever.  Lina said that a good Magnitude should do the trick, and that it did.  Bulbasaur was down for the count.

            Ash grimaced as he returned Bulbasaur, saying that he tried his best.  Ash chose his final pokemon – Squirtle.

            Lina raised an eyebrow.  Smiling once more, she returned Diglett and did something very surprising; she released her new Charizard.  Traditionally, water was strong against fire, especially the Char-chain of evolution.  Ash took this as a good sign and started to get a bit overconfident.  He had Squirtle make a head on Water Gun attack.  At Lina's command, Pyro positioned himself easily so that the stream of water went into his mouth, like a refreshing drink of water.  When the stream ended, Pyro wiped his mouth with his clawed "hand" and grinned.  Ash sweated a little.  Lina dared Ash to try again.  She and Pyro were closer than a glove on a hand; nothing could defeat them.

            Ash growled and called out for Squirtle to try Skull Bash attack.  Pyro stood his ground and caught Squirtle between his claws when he was a few inches away.  Lina told him to use a direct Flamethrower.  After charring the shell, as Squirtle had withdrawn, Pyro dropped Squirtle and stepped back.  Squirtle came out, knocked out.  Ash hung his head as he returned Squirtle.  Looking to defeat at least one of Lina's pokemon, he sent out Pikachu again.

            Lina stayed with Pyro.  Deciding to bait Ash a bit more, Lina had Pyro take to the skies, and slowly circle around about fifteen feet above the ground.  With every turn, Pyro mocked Pikachu's ability to actually hit him.  Ash told Pikachu to aim carefully and use Thunderbolt.  When Pikachu sent the electric attack, Pyro sent back a Flamethrower.  As Pikachu could not move and attack at the same time, both attacks hit dead on.  Returning to the ground, Pyro looked as if he hadn't felt a thing; Pikachu was breathing hard and sweating.  Though nobody noticed, Lina was sweating a little.  She called for Pyro to finish it with a Soul-searching Fireball.  A large ball of fire was released from Charizard's mouth.  Ash told Pikachu to use Agility.  However, after the ball of fire went past where Pikachu was only seconds before, it turned back and made a beeline for Pikachu.  Though Pikachu tried to outrun it, the fireball was gaining on him.  In the few seconds that Pikachu looked behind him to see the fireball, Pyro came in front of him and stopped his running with his foot; both foot and Pikachu were charred.  The match was over.  Lina had won easily 3-0.

            Lina smiled and petted Charizards nose for a job well done.  Carefully removing Pikachu from under its foot, Lina took out the same potion that she used on Erika's pokemon.  Speaking kindly in Pika-language, Lina had Pikachu take some of the medicine.  Immediately, Kairo sat up, perky as ever.  Lina pet Pikachu's head and looked towards Ash.  She told him to call forth the pokemon that had been injured in the battle.  Seeing what she did to Pikachu, Ash did as he was told.  Lina healed them as well.

            Upon finishing, she spoke to the other trainers after telling the pokemon that they could play together for the time being.  Lina explained that though she generally wouldn't have done this to an opponent she despised, it was against what she had been taught to do.  When Ash asked where she came from, Lina raised an eyebrow again.  With an exhale of breath, Lina looked up again at Ash.

            "You /really/ don't recognize me, do you?  Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town, the only trainer who was late in getting their first pokemon."

            Ash was surprised that she knew this.  Brock and Misty looked at Ash.  At the same time, they asked, "You were late the very first day as a trainer?!"

            Ash got a bit red with embarrassment and excused himself for it.  He said that he was so excited that he overslept.  Shaking his head, Ash asked how Lina even knew so much about him.

            Lina sighed hopelessly.  Smoothing back some stray strands of hair, she introduced herself for the first time.  "I never told you my name, did I?  Well, have you ever heard of the Inverses?  Because my name's Lina.  Lina Inverse."

            Ash's eyes shot wide open.  Getting redder, he suddenly found that he couldn't make eye contact anymore.  Misty said that she had never heard of the Inverses, and asked Ash if he knew her.  Rubbing the back of his head, Ash replied, "You could say that…"

            "Not."  Lina interrupted with an explanation.  "He and his mom and his friends came to my family's restaurant on his birthday.  He had a temper tantrum because his Filet Mignon Steak had been replaced for a flailing Magikarp.  Which, by the way, was not by the fault of our restaurant, but that of his own troublemaking friend.  Anyway, as he had kicked the table over in his mad rush, many things had been broken before Ash here and his group left.  Later on, the cook, my oldest brother, had been laid off and the rest of us had to work overnight to prepare the restaurant for the next day, hoping that we would even have customers after this."

            Lina took a breath.  Misty and Brock looked from Lina to Ash.  Ash took this chance to try to defend himself.  "What do you expect?  I was only four at the time."

            "And yet, you still recognize our family name, and couldn't see me eye to eye when I mentioned it.  Oh, by the way, I was working there that day, so I had to work overnight too.  I was also four at that time, to make matters worse."

            The onlookers sympathized with Lina.  Gourry spoke for them all when he commented, "Four?  That's one tough family you have there, Lina."

            Lina crossed her arms over her chest.  "You better believe it."

            Brock held his hands up in defense.  "Don't worry; we trust your word."

            Zel broke in as he asked, "Though, I can't help but wonder…why are you saying all this now?"

            Lina glanced at Zel from the corner of her eye.  "I want Ash to properly acknowledge all that he's done, and I plan to make him pay for it?"

            Head hung, Ash looked up and asked, "I'm afraid to ask, but how?"

            Lina was about to reply when Charizard suddenly roared loudly.  Both because she was right beside him and that she understood what he was saying, Lina jumped with surprise.  She nodded to Charizard before turning to Pikachu's family and saying that they had to return to Prof. Oak's now, as it was too dangerous to be out anymore.  Not questioning Lina's command, they all waved goodbye to Pikachu as they returned to their pokeballs.  Lina quickly told Ash to return his pokemon and that she had to go.  She wasn't exactly sure when she'd be back, but she'd make sure that Ash never forgot about her.  With that, she slipped onto Pyro's back and took to the skies.  They all watched her as Lina headed east towards Saffron City, somewhat.

            Bent low towards Pyro, she verified, "Now that we're pretty much alone, what do you mean, 'The bad guys are after me'?!"

A/N: My cliffy.  How do you like it?  If you think Lina is saying too much about her past to be like she was in Slayers, just remember that she recently escaped from home, therefore, she is entitled to be a little homesick until she is really ready to travel on her own.  Also, if you think I'm being mean in terms of Ash, I don't really feel this way about him, but I'm trying to get Lina's brash anger self to the surface, so might as well start with Ash and her past.  Let's see… oh and in terms of not having Brock, Misty, Zel, or Gourry talk very much, let's just say, its to put more emphasis on the fact that /Lina/ talks a lot more than anyone else.  Anything left to say or comment on?  Okay, tell me in a review!


	11. A Worthless Fight, Or is It

A/N: Ahhh…I'm so glad you like this story so much- I'm ready to put forth all of half my attention on it now (as compared to a third or less).  I have another story that I'm just starting, so it might further delay this story.  But hey, at least I'm not quitting it, right?  Well, on with the story.

Disclaimer: I don't own Slayers or Pokemon.

Ch. 11 – A Worthless Fight, or is it?

            A caressing wind passed Lina and Pyro as they soared across the sky.  Pyro had informed his mistress that he sensed danger on the horizon.  Once they got high enough, Lina did too, literally.  Approaching the city was a huge army tank designed to look intimidating.  For most, the very fact that it stood thrice as tall as the tallest tree amongst a forest was enough to send them running for the hills.  But not Lina.  No, nothing like that could scare her- her sister had made her seen worse things than that.

            Lina hurried Pyro so that they could stop the tank from going into the city.  Despite Pyro's warning, she was ready to face danger head on.  Both forces stopped in a clearing; Lina dismounted.  A lone wind lifted the dirt into the silent air.  Suddenly, a booming voice coming from within the tank declared, "LITTLE GIRL, LEAVE YOUR POKEMON AND GET OUT OF THE WAY."

            To which Lina yelled back, "YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW WHO I AM AND YOU EXPECT ME TO JUST /_GIVE/ YOU MY POKEMON?!?!  THAT'S CRAZY!  LET'S BATTLE!"_

             Some muttering and conversing seemed to be going on inside before the reply came, "IT DOESN'T MATTER WHO /_YOU/ ARE.  WE ARE TEAM ROCKET, AND WE ONLY SEEK OUT LINA INVERSE!"_

            Lina let out a small burst of laughter followed by a loud, full-hearted one.  Turning to Pyro she asked, "Can you /believe/ them Pyro?  Ol' Team Rocket is looking for a Lina Inverse.  Hmmm…I wonder who that could be."

            Pyro gave Lina a closed eye smile before she chose to speak once more.  "YOU DOLTS!  /I'M/ LINA INVERSE!  THE ONE AND ONLY!  NOW GET OUT HERE AND FACE ME, OR TURN TAIL AND RUN!"

            Voices muttered inside the tank.  Having left their speakerphone on, Lina could hear them discussing what to do.  Finally, the top of the tank opened, and out emerged two young men, heads turned to Lina, standing back-to-back, and arms folded as if they were high and mighty.

            The one on Lina's left had wavy black hair past his shoulders, a grungy old brown hat on his head, and the basic look that he had traveled very hard non-stop.  Just from the way he expressed his opinion, Lina could tell that he was the overconfident and stubborn type.  The other held himself in a way that said without words, "Face me and you'll more than lose the fight."  His hair and a good portion of his body were covered by a navy blue cloak and hood, but Lina could see a glimpse of brown hair underneath the hood.  (Can you guess who they are?! :P)  Under their cloaks, they wore the traditional black Team Rocket suits.

            From there, the two skipped the Team Rocket motto and got straight to business.  Jumping off the tank with deftly spun flips, they stood before Lina.  The one in blue spoke for them both.  "I am called Vrumagan.  My companion is Zangulus.  We had not expected our quarry to be a small girl like yourself.  However, business is business, and we must dispose of you before you foil any more of Team Rocket's plans."

            Lina rolled her eyes as she put her hands on her hips.  "Oh Come /_on_/.  Team Rocket members sure think a lot of themselves, don't they?  Okay, first of all, I hadn't /really/ intended to do that much damage.  At first, I was only looking to get back my friend's pokemon.  It's not /my/ fault Team Rocket /followed/ me.  I just did what I had to do out of self-defense.  Second, what makes you think you'll ever beat me?"

            In a very boastful voice, Zangulus boomed, "We are elite Team Rocket members.  Team Rocket is the largest pokemon corporation in the whole Kanto region.  We have yet to lose a battle."

            Getting quickly into battle position, Lina answered, "Then today will be your first."

            Jumping back, Vrumagan was the first to battle.  "I'll teach you to respect your elders.  Go, Jynx!"

            Vrumagan released a Jynx between them, while Lina merely had Pyro step forward.

            "Flamethrower!"  
            "Blizzard!"

            Both attacks met in the middle and exploded on impact.  Dead even.  The attack was repeated, with the same result.  Meanwhile Zangulus released a Golduck onto the battlefield.  He ordered it to send a Hydro Pump Charizard's way.  The attack was inches from Charizard before it was deflected by a green blur.  The three looked to see what had happened, for the Hydro Pump had been dispersed and diverted straight up.  Pyro took this chance to move away.

            It was then that Lina noticed what it was.  A Scyther stood where the attack had been deflected.  In prime condition, it looked ready to face anything.  Suddenly, Gourry ran up and asked if Lina was alright.  She remarked that she was just fine, and asked what /he/ was doing there.  Gourry answered that seeing the tank above the trees, they worried about her so they came to help out.  Just then, Zel, Misty, Ash, and Brock came into the clearing.  Lina groaned to herself.

            Lina grumbled to herself, "I don't have time for this…" before commanding Pyro to finish off Jynx.  Coming into the battle, Scyther faced Golduck.  For a while, as they exchanged attacks, it seemed apparent that Gourry and Lina had the upper hand.  However, the fight didn't last long before Lina got sick of fighting the same repetitive battle.

            "That's it…Dragonite, I choose you!  Blow these idiots sky high with Hyper Beam!"

            They all watched astounded as the monstrous Dragonite appeared from the pokeball.  It loomed over them like one huge storm cloud waiting to strike.  Strike it did, and fast it struck.  One swift attack and the two Team Rocket members and their pokemon were sent flying, along with their huge tank.

            Nodding with approval, Lina returned Dragonite.  Seeing that Pyro had grown a bit weak from the day's battles, she returned him to his pokeball as well.  Taking note of this, Gourry returned his Scyther.

            Lina sighed.  First, she addressed Gourry.  With one eye on him, and the other closed, she told him, "If you're expecting a 'thank you', you're not getting one.  I didn't ask for your help you know."

            Gourry rubbed the back of his head and answered, "Hehe.. yeah well, sorry for butting in like that, but you looked like you could use some help.  We were worried when we saw you heading in the direction of that big tank."

            Lina looked sideways and blushed a little.  "Whatever.  I'm alright, anyhow.  I'm sure Pyro appreciates your help though."

            Now Lina's eyes turned to Ash and his friends.  She started walking towards them as she spoke.  "Now, you three, didn't I tell you not to follow me?  I don't need help from weaklings like you."

            In every case, who /wouldn't/ be offended by that?  The three trainers angrily declared, "Weaklings?!  We're not weaklings!"  From there, they all said separate things to prove their worth.

            "I already have /five/ badges!"

            To which Lina replied, "I have six."

            "I'm one of the Cerulean City Gym Leaders."

            Lina pointed a thumb in Gourry's direction.  "It seems Gourry here is too."

            "I used to be the Pewter City Gym Leader."

            "What do you know," Lina remarked, "Zel was the leader after /you/."

            When there was a pause, Lina added, "Anything else you care to point out?"

            Ash muttered, "I have great pokemon…"

            Lina rolled her eyes.  "Big whoop.  So do I, and mine are stronger than yours.  To boot, I can actually understand what my fire pokemon say, word for word."

            They all blinked as they registered that last statement.  "Really?!"

            Lina couldn't help but roll her eyes again.  "Yeah, didn't I tell you already?"

            There was a collective agreement of negative affirmation.

            Lina shrugged.  She commented that there was nothing she could do if their senses were that much duller than hers.  Silence passed between the two groups.  Brock suddenly inquired where they were headed to now.  With a sniff, Lina remarked that since she was in search of badges, they'd take the road to Fuchsia City, and from there take a ferry to Cinnabar Island.  That was their plan for the time being anyway.  Brock thoughtfully said that if you were going for badges, that would be the ideal route to take to the Pokemon League.  Path decided, Ash made a resolution to get a lot stronger between now and the tournament, so that he could beat Lina.

            Lina made a disbelieving scoff that had a ring of laughter to it.  She remarked that if Ash couldn't even beat Gary, there was no way that he could beat her.  Again, Lina surprised them all; Ash wondered how she knew Gary.  She answered that anyone who's lived in Pallet town for at least a month, knows of Prof. Oak, and thus knows of Gary.  However, she probably knows Gary the best.  Ash challenged that and they went into another back-and-forth arguing.  Lina easily won, which only amazed Ash further.  With a tired sigh, Lina looked up into the sky.  Streams of pink, orange, red, blue, and navy blue were layered and mixed in the sky above as the sun set in the west.

            The red-haired trainer, Lina, told them that it was time for them to turn in for the night.  She didn't know about the others, but she was going to get a good night's sleep.  Brock agreed that that would be a good idea.  Misty energetically said that tomorrow could be used to explore Celadon City; Brock also nodded to that.  Lina suddenly popped up next to Zel and asked him what he thought they should do.  Zel shrugged.  He just wanted to get to Cinnabar Island already.  He would have gone there himself, but he wasn't sure where to look for the scientists that Lina spoke of.  If he had gone there and tried to force his way to his cure, there's no telling what might have happened to him.  Frankly, Lina had to agree.

            Mind settled Lina proclaimed that they would leave Celadon City the next day.  She asked Gourry if that was okay with him.  He shrugged and said whatever she decided was fine with him.

            By releasing Pyro again, Lina gestured for the others to release their flying pokemon.  Zel took out his Pidgeot, but Gourry assured her that he would take the ground back as he suddenly remembered that he had a great fear of flying; not of heights, just flying bareback on pokemon.  Lina told him to suit himself, and took to the skies with Zel close behind.  With a smile, Gourry turned to Ash and co.  He asked if they minded walking back with him.  They said no, they'd rather have him then the other two.  Gourry chuckled lowly at that.  He kindly explained as they walked that that was just how Lina was, though today had been the most she ever talked about her past.

            By some strange turn of events, started by Ash's and Gourry's stomach growling loud enough to disrupt the birds, they were talking about Brock's great cooking when they reached the Pokecenter.  As soon as Gourry turned the first corner inside the Pokecenter, he was thwacked in the back of his head by Lina and then dragged off.  Ash, Misty, and Brock as well as half the Pokecenter watched with sweatdrops.  Pondering it momentarily, Brock observed that Lina's relationship with Brock seemed to closely resemble Ash and Misty's.  The pair didn't know whether to blush or to be bewildered; so they were both.  They denied any relationship whatsoever, until Brock added that he meant they had the same type of relationship as far as companions, and treatment went.  Looking in the direction Lina and Gourry had gone, Ash and Misty reluctantly agreed.  With that thought, they left their pokemon with Nurse Joy and went to their beds to sleep.

            Pikachu's sister, Kapi, looked through the window of the Pokecenter.  From that window, she could see the sun making its way into the sky.  She turned to look at her mistress sleeping fitfully in the private room; small, but private.  Her mistress had instructed her to wake her up at the crack of dawn, using whatever means possible.  Kapi jumped off the wooden desk and waddled over to the bed, springing herself onto the mattress.  Lina stirred and she softly groaned, but she did not wake.  First, Kapi tried to wake Lina simply by shaking her shoulder with her little arms.  That worked just about as well as jumping onto the bed.  Next, Kapi attempted to wake her mistress through a little shock from her tail on Lina's forehead.  Lina jumped a little above the bed, but surprisingly did not wake up.  Growing slightly frustrated, Kapi finally used a Thundershock on her mistress.  That definitely woke up Lina, as you could see her skeleton for a few split-seconds.  Burnt to a crisp in some places, Lina slowly took in her surroundings.  Upon realizing that Kapi had woken her up, she thanked her, pet her on the head, and fed her a poketreat.  Kapi was pleased that she had done her part.

            Getting up, Lina returned Kapi to her pokeball before doing some morning stretches.  Afterwards, she washed up, combed her hair, and prepared herself for another day of traveling.  All that took no less than fifteen minutes.  Turbo charged for activity, Lina quietly crept out of the Pokecenter and made a morning jog to the forest.  She found the clearing that she had been to just the day before, and released her pokemon for training.  Total, she had called forth Charizard, Primeape, Victreebel, soon-to-be-evolved Spearow, and Magmar.  She had Primeape and Spearow face off to train Primeape for battling and getting Spearow to evolve.  Victreebel faced Magmar in an attempt to overcome the obvious type advantage.

            First on the line of training was Charizard.  Lina separately trained him to better enhance his fighting ability now that he could fly.  Lina's chief goal with Charizard now was to perfect wind attacks such as Whirlwind, Fly, and Wing attack.  For Wing Attack, Lina taught Pyro that all he had to do was flap one wing as fast and as hard as he could, and concentrate on making it into a sort of shockwave wind boomerang type thing.  After a few trial and errors, Charizard finally got the hang of it, and could slice a branch in half in the air from twenty feet away.  As this was fairly quick considering Pyro would have learned it eventually on his own anyway, Lina moved on to the next attack, Whirlwind.  For this, Lina told Pyro that it was simply of flapping both of his wings as hard and as fast as he could so that the path of wind intersected and revolved constantly around each other the way a tornado worked.  Having just learned Wing Attack, this was a breeze for Charizard.  Within a quarter of an hour, his tornado could destroy all the trees in its path before it dispersed.  Approving of this, Lina came around to the final attack for the day- Fly.  Lina told Charizard to fly straight up in the sky, locked down on his target, and soar straight for them.  Aiming for a tree, Charizard's hard head and gripping claws proved to win the tree over because the force of the impact toppled the tree.  After a few more trial runs, Lina agreed that Charizard was good to go, at least for today.  She returned Pyro to his pokeball.

            Lina looked to her other pokemon.  Spearow and Primeape were still going at it, but Magmar had stopped since Victreebel had fainted.  She hurried to revive Victreebel and give the rest a restorative potion.  Lina checked Spearow on the Statidex.  Only a little more until he would be ready to evolve.  Satisfied, Lina chose Victreebel and Magmar at the same time.

            First, she showed Victreebel how to make its Razor Leaf attack surround and thus surprise its opponent.  Lina also taught him how to make its Vine whip strong enough to pierce the ground, and then grab the opponent from underneath.  Setting him to practice those on another tree, Lina turned to Magmar.  She showed it the fundamentals of her favorite special fire attacks including the fireball that followed its opponent, the direct fireball, the fire geyser technique, one concentrated fire geyser (aka Mega Brand), and thin streams of fire (also called "Flare Arrow").

            Lina watched as the both drilled and practiced.  Seeing that it might be a while until they mastered those attacks, Lina's attention was turned to Primeape and Spearow.  With one last peck attack, Spearow knocked out Primeape.  They all watched as Spearow glowed a pearly white, changing its form, until it had finished evolving into a Fearow.  Lina cheered, and then, remembering the others' training, set them back to work.  As for Primeape and Fearow, she healed them and then set them on new training

            For Primeape, Lina taught everything from jabs, uppercuts, and cheap shots for desperate times, to having enough force in them to create a fire from the friction and or send his opponent flying sky-high.  Since for this, he would need a partner, Lina released the already trained Sandslash to spar with Primeape.  Finally, Lina turned her attention to Fearow.  Lina made sure he knew all the attacks she had taught Pyro that day, before perfecting Drill Peck and teaching it Mirror Move.  Mirror move was the hardest by far, but by the time the others had finished their training, so had Fearow.  For one last check, she made all her pokemon perform their newly learned attacks, each one had it down precisely and powerfully.  Very pleased with the morning's work, she thanked her pokemon for their cooperation, and returned them all to their pokeball's.  Lina rushed back to the Pokecenter.

            Lina took a quick shower via Pokecenter while her pokemon were being healed by Nurse Joy again.  Afterwards, she joined Gourry for a feast of a breakfast, before they left Celadon City with Zel.  Lina reassured herself as well as the others that if they needed anything from this city, they could always fly back later.  Checking her map, Lina estimated that with minimum stops unless they hit a town on the way, they could make it to Gringy City, home to a smaller, but still official Pokemon Gym, on the way to Fuschia City, in a matter of a week, or maybe two.

            Meanwhile, at Team Rocket Headquarterrs, Zangulus and Vrumagan were scolded by their superior.  Team Rocket was interested in Lina not only for her pokemon, but for their skilled trainer as well.  Yes, it would serve Team Rocket well to have such an ally on their side.  With that in mind, their superior ordered them to obtain Lina Inverse, and only come back when she was with them.  Nodding the affirmative, the two agents were dismissed.  Trouble was brewing in the shadows of Team Rocket, and it involved Lina Inverse.

A/N: Phew.  That's another chapter done.  Yay!  Two more characters from Slayers!  SNEAK PEEK INFO!  Psst…for all you loyal reviewers, I'll let you in on a little secret: depending on how long it takes for Lina to get the badge at Gringy City, Xellos will be in either the next chapter or the one after that!  So prepare yourselves!  ^_^  (I think I'm on a bit of an energy high…)  Please Review or I might change my mind….^o^  *Innocent whistling*


	12. Playing Dirty

A/N: ^_^ Team Rocket's getting more active… I wonder what it could mean.  Can you guess who they symbolize?  Well, they symbolize a lot of baddies, but you'll have to read on to see who shows up next!  On with the story!

Disclaimer: I don't own Slayers, or Pokemon, or anything that isn't mine to own.

**12- Playing Dirty**

            As it would turn out, Lina still ended up taking the same route that Ash and co. had during the series.  The only difference was that she took shorter rest periods at night than they did, and she knew where the mini-gyms were.  Gringy City, Lina's current destination, happened to be the home of the Soot Badge.  Lina predicted that they would use pokemon like Grimer and Muk, resistant to most attacks, but Lina already had a plan in mind.  Therefore, the results of the gym battle were of no surprise to her.

            The gym had a subway staircase leading down to it; it was underground.  The gym itself was anything but fancy, or even very clean.  Mold, fungus, and naturally grown vines, decorated the chipped, grungy, slate-gray walls.  There was a sickly smell in the stale air, to boot.  It reminded one of what a sewer might smell like.  The three travelers turned their noses up at it, as the smell was the first thing that crossed their minds.

            Gourry plugged his nose as he asked Lina, "This place smells horrible; where are we?"

            To which Zel replied, "Isn't it obvious?  We're underground, directly next to the city's sewer system."

            Lina nodded in agreement.  Attempting to speak despite the horrendous smell, Lina called out from the bottom of the staircase, "I am the one named Lina Inverse.  I have come for the Soot Badge.  I hereby challenge the leader of this gym."

            For a while, nothing happened.  Then, a low, masculine voice said, "I am called Buck, the leader of this gym.  I accept your challenge."  At that moment two more lights turned on, revealing a battlefield, outlined with orange rust instead of the usual white paint.  "May the challenger please step into the trainer's box."

            On the opposite side of the field, already in the box, was a middle-aged man.  He wore a gray jumpsuit, with a matching gray hat.  His face was hidden underneath a bushy set of eyebrows, and a moustache that combined itself with his long beard.  As soon as Lina stepped forward into the trainer's box, Buck began the match.

            "This will be a two-on-two pokemon battle.  Let the games begin!  Grimer, I choose you!"

            Lina smirked; exactly what she expected.  Deciding to try out her newest "technicians", she called forth Magmar to "heat things up."  Lina's first command was to use Flamethrower; an easy, trivial attack.  Grimer defended itself by using Harden.  However, Magmar's attack was relentless, and by the time Lina called off the attack, Grimer had melted into a pile of goo, completely KO'd.

            Gourry whistled, impressed by Magmar's power.  Softly, to Zel, he said, "Wow.  Who knew that a pokemon with just one day of Lina's training would turn out to be this good."

            Zel nodded, but replied, "Gourry, it'd be best if you didn't talk during Lina's battle."

            Gourry retracted his lips into his mouth and mimicked that he was "zipping up".

            Buck's mouth opened in a grimace.  Gruffly, he commented, "Lucky shot."  Grimer returned to his pokeball, and Muk was released.  "This won't be nearly as easy as you think it to be."

            With a confident grin, Lina replied, "What makes you think that that's what I think?"  Lina returned Magmar, and called forth Primeape.

            Buck's grimace became a smirk.  He let out a gruff laugh as if he had this match in the bag.  Lina continued to grin.  Lina held out a hand towards the gym leader and proclaimed, "I was always raised to be polite.  As you are my elder, and I won the first match, why don't you start off first this time?"

            Buck's laughter stopped abruptly.  Giving Lina a questioning look, he slowly nodded and called out for Muk to attack with Sludge Bomb.  All Lina said was, "You know what to do.  Think dodge practice Primeape."

            Primeape grunted with assent, and easily dodged every single bomb, without leaving the place he stood.  He dodged by jumping up, swerving his head left or right, ducking, or moving from side to side.  Once the flurry of sludge diminished, Primeape passed his boxing glove over his snout, a dangerous look in his eyes.  Primeape shifted weight from one foot to the other repeatedly while doing some lightning fast practice jabs.  Lina's constant smile showed her approval.

            It was now that Buck became boiling with rage.  How dare this pint-sized kid make a fool of him like that!  He'd show her…

            Unsuccessfully attempting to squash his anger to a smolder, Buck called out, "Alright Muk- Enough's enough.  Use Toxic."

            A giant black pool of inky substance squirted from Muk's mouth, headed straight for Primeape.  Confident in her Primeape, Lina told him to stand there and send the attack back with the wind from his Mega Punch.  Primeape wound up, and hit a home run, so to speak.  Energy surrounding his fist, Primeape released so much power in that instant, the liquid actually flew back, and inflamed his attacker's eyes.  Blinded by his own Toxic attack, Muk struggled to get the gunk out of his eyes.

            Growling with frustration, Buck had unconsciously clenched his fists tightly.  He barked, "Get up Muk!  Don't let this fighting-pokemon beat you!"

           The yelling didn't prove to be effective in the least.  Lina sighed as she put a hand on her hip.  She called out to Buck, "Mr. Gym Leader sir, if you just announce me the winner of this here match, and give me my badge, I'd be more than willing to clear that stuff out of your Muk's eyes for you."

            Buck's reply was swift as he declared, "Never!  My Muk can still fight!  The match continues!"

            Lina sighed.  She and Primeape exchanged a glance, and a nod.  "Be stubborn then, old man," she whispered to herself.  Out loud, she told Primeape, "Do it Primeape; finish this with a whirlwind uppercut."  Primeape made a rushing tackle towards the blinded Muk.  With one swift uppercut just below Muk's mouth, hit at an angle, Muk was sent into a whirling cyclone that escorted him out of the ring, and crashing into the far wall.  He was knocked out like a light.

            Gourry couldn't restrain himself; he clapped wholeheartedly for Lina's victory, as he didn't remember the last gym battles that Lina fought in the past.  Zel rolled his eyes for the hopeless Gourry.  Nevertheless, he had a small smile tugging at his lips, in Lina's direction.

            The Gringy City's Gym Leader clenched his fists just then so tightly that the white knuckles began shaking with his hands.  Finally, after a short struggle with himself, Buck hung his head, and loosened his tense muscles.  He admitted defeat, and soberly congratulated Lina on her victory.  Rushing across the field, Lina first congratulated Primeape and returned him to his ball.

From there, she went over to Muk, took a bottle out of her cape, and sprayed it over Muk's eyes.  When Muk groaned loudly at the stinging pain, Lina shushed and soothed the poor pokemon.  Right in front of everyone, the toxic substance faded away from Muk's eyes until nothing more of it could be seen.  Blinking, as if unused to this action, Muk tested his vision again.  He saw Lina and gave her a thankful Body Slam.

            Suddenly, Muk was enveloped in a red light, and disappeared from view.  Buck had returned him to his pokeball.  With a soft, knowing smile, Lina stood up, brushed off the dirt from her clothes and made her way to Buck.  The ashamed gym leader could not make eye contact with the cheerful redhead.

            Tilting her head so that she could see Buck's face, Lina's soft, almost mournful voice rang out, "I'm sorry I was so rough with your pokemon.  If you'd like, I'm willing to heal your Grimer of any burns it might have gained from my Magmar's Flamethrower."

            Buck made a swift swerve, throwing Lina something as he turned to leave.  "Thanks but no thanks.  I can take care of my own pokemon.  Here's your stinkin' badge; now leave this place."

            Looking into her hands, Lina found a badge shaped and colored like a sludge bomb.  Lina bowed and thanked Buck before he slammed the door opposite the staircase, leaving Lina alone in the dank room with Gourry and Zel.  Lina sighed at his reluctance, and half-heartedly ran towards the stairs.  Heading up a bit of a ways before Zel and Gourry, she turned and told them to hurry up.  Her job was done here; she had won her badge.  Now it was time to go to Fuchsia City.  Eager to be rid of the musty smell, Gourry and Zel were not far behind Lina as she resurfaced on ground level.

            It was not long before the trio reached Fuchsia City.  Upon seeing a sign that said Fuschia City was home to the Safari Zone, Gourry asked if Lina wanted to go there first.  Lina shook her head at this suggestion.  Business before pleasure, and gym matches were her business _and_ pleasure.  However, Lina promised that they'd visit the Safari Zone after she gained her badge.

            They didn't even have to ask for directions to find the Gym.  It was as clear as day, at least to Lina.  With determined spirit, Lina led the way up a treacherous cliff (the safer way; the one not associated with a long fall), to what looked like a traditional Japanese mansion.  Upon reaching the front entrance, Lina outstretched a hand, to gesture for her companions to stop, for the time being.  She warned them to be careful of traps, as Fucshia City Gym was known to be the master headquarters of a ninja clan.  Zel and Gourry replied with a simple, but understanding nod.  Lina nodded back, and approached the door.

            As if sensing their arrival, the door creaked and groaned as it slid open, unassisted by any seen host.  Lina-tachi expected this, and thus took it as an invitation.  Walking in, Lina looked in all directions; the hallways split into three different paths.  Turning to Gourry and Zel, Lina asked if they'd help her search the place for the gym leader.  Both Gourry and Zel were concerned about leaving Lina alone on her search, and they voiced their opinion.  Looking at them warily, Lina questioned whether they were scared for her, or _themselves_.  Gourry and Zel both sweated at this.  They claimed that they were sincerely worried for her, as anything could happen in a ninja's hideout, recent or not.

            Lina sighed and shook her head hopelessly at her two companions.  She reminded them that she could easily take care of herself, and they should worry more about themselves.  Zel argued that as he had been a gym leader in the recent past, he could take care of himself just as well.  Gourry agreed with Zel.  It was then that Lina asked, "So what's the problem?"  Neither male could find a suitable reply.  In the end, Zel took the left hallway, Gourry the right, and Lina was left to head straight forward.

            Zel had not walked twenty paces before one wooden board that made up the floor, flew up and hit him in a see-saw like way.  Although his rocky exterior protected him from most harm, he was basically hit by his own weight, so he was hurt pretty badly.  As a reflex, Zel groaned and the incriminating foot stepped back, only to release another broken floorboard.  In this way, Zel was hit in the front and back of his head in a matter of seconds.  Thinking that if he rested his foot in the middle, he wouldn't get hit, but he was wrong; he got hit by both – at the same time.  No matter where he stepped, the floorboards still rose up to attack him.  Someone somewhere was laughing at the poor "boulder boy" at that moment.

            Meanwhile, Gourry was having some booby trap troubles of his own.  With every few meters came a new trap, though, after the first ten or so, they lost their originality.  First came the trap doors, where Gourry would take a step, and then fall into a square hole that was deep enough to cover Gourry's body to a point where only his fingertips would show if he raised his hands to their fullest extent.  Once he managed to climb out of that, he was bombarded by a wall of descending spears.  If that wasn't enough, after he passed that obstacle, he would reach a turn, and was forced to run for his life as he was a human target for an automated shooter.  Without realizing it, he kept going around in a circle, for the only door out of the booby trap corridor was concealed to look just like the ceiling- of which it was a part of.

            As for Lina, she actually managed to stay booby-trap free.  However, it was the corridors themselves that presented the problem.  It didn't take long for Lina to realize that they were designed like one huge maze.  The ceiling touched the top of the walls, so climbing up was out of the question.  Fortunately, having visited Viridian Forest many times in her youth, Lina had practice with mazes, natural or not.  After a long time, Lina was beginning to get suspicious of the way this maze was constructed.  Suddenly, Lina heard a soft shfft.  She stopped then to listen.  Nothing could be heard.  Cautiously, she peered around the corner that she had just turned.  The same shftt was made apparent to Lina's sensitive ears, from behind her.  Hurrying, Lina ran a little farther in that direction and came, to a dead end.  Now Lina understood; the walls of the maze moved in a way that utterly trapped her.

            This was going to be harder than she thought.

A/N:  ^_^  You like?  You willing to tell me?  Okay, please review!  I wonder who's behind all these booby traps?  Ash and co. didn't have _this_ much trouble in the series, right?  ^_^  Sorry for calling Zel a "boulder boy" btw.  Don't know why I did that exactly…Aww whatever.  Hold on, let me count something for a sec.  Boulder, Cascade, Thunder, Marsh, Ghost, Rainbow, Soot…Hey!  Lina's on her last required badge mission!  Hmm…I wonder _how_ much harder this should be for her…she _has_ had it pretty easy up until now…*evil smirk*  Ciao!  Review Por favor!


	13. It's A Secret

A/N: WAHHHH!!! What HAPPENED?!?!?! Nobody reviewed the last two chapters T_T  *Sniff*  Fine.  I can deal w/ this… I'll…I'll continue writing…I have to finish this story anyway.

*Shuddering Sob* P-please review?

Disclaimer:  If I owned Slayers, I wouldn't be writing _Fanfiction_.  Same goes for Pokemon.

Ch. 13 – It's a Secret!

            After getting hit twice with the force of his own body weight, Zel realized something and quickly tried to put his plan into motion.  He carefully calculated where the central support for the boards were on either side of him.  Then he simultaneously balanced both of his feet on those two mid-points.  Zel anxiously waited to see if there would be a response.  There was none.  Satisfied, Zel carefully took a wide stride to the next support beam.  Nothing happened.  Using extremely long strides, Zel managed to travel a fairly safe distance without hurting himself.  When nothing eventful happened by the time his poké-morphed body became tired from the extra effort of striding, he let his guard down, and his foot slipped.

            As if getting payback for attempting to avoid it, the wood tipped down just like a see-saw would.  Before he could stop himself, Zel slid into the tight hole that the wooden plank eased him into.  Zel squirmed, trying to get out.  He couldn't.  Zelgadis was stuck in the floorboards, shoulder down hidden underneath the floor.  Someone somewhere howled with laughter, letting it echo within the near empty halls.  As Zel was forced to listen, he seemed to have trouble deciphering whether it was a madman or a ... hyena.

           Eventually, since it was not a hard matter at all to annoy Zelgadis, Zel had had enough.  Groping with his stoned hand, he reached for one of his pokeballs on his belt and released it underneath the surface.  Zel grunted his command.  "Pidgeot Wing Attack through the wood!"

            A loud squawk was heard before Pidgeot crashed through the floor in a flurry of speed.  Pidgeot flapped its wings slowly as it picked Zel up by his collar and flew him out of his jam – breaking the plank further in the process.  With a deft movement of his hand, Zel flipped onto Pidgeot's back.  "Good.  Now let's get going."

            Pidgeot squawked in response and started flying through the halls, in the direction its master meant to go.  Neither bird nor master expected what they found around the next corner.

            Gourry was currently taking a breather within a hole.  He had run around the room twenty consecutive times thus far.  He was beginning to wonder if the cycle ever ended.  Striking a thinking pose, he tried to remember how Lina would have handled it.  After what seemed like hours of thinking to him, which ended up being about twenty minutes, Gourry finally came to a conclusion.  He would leave a little marker or something in _this_ hole and if he saw it again, he knew he'd been traveling in a circle.  He would do it for the other holes too.  Now then. . . what could serve as markers; something that he had plenty in supply of?

            After another exaggerated period of time, Gourry came up with a solution: his hair!  Gourry had long, blonde hair that came down to his knees almost.  So with a painful yelp, Gourry plucked some hairs, rolled it into a ball around a good sized rock, and set it down in the middle of the hole.  Satisfied, Gourry hoisted himself up once more and began his round again.  This time, instead of getting out right after falling into the next hole, he stopped to look for the hairy rock (^_^).  To his dismay, he found what he was looking for.  The rock lay innocently, just where he had left it.  Growling in frustration, Gourry lifted himself up again, and collapsed face-down on the floor.  He turned over, panting slightly.  His mind began to wander…

_            What luck.  Lina's here for her fifty-somethin' badge and I'm stuck in an endless circle of traps.  I wonder where Lina is anyway?  I hope she's alright… Zelgadis, too.  Maybe we shouldn't have split up like that…Who knows _what_ this place has in store for us…this place must be getting old 'cause I can see a crack in the ceiling…  Wait.  Crack?  That looks an awful lot like one of those square things…  I know!  Maybe it's a trapdoor!  An exit!  Come to think of it, how did I get here in the first place? . . . Hm… oh wells.  Back to the exit!_

Finding his goal, Gourry flipped himself onto his feet, and took another look at the ceiling.  His suspicions were confirmed; the trap door was obvious to him since there were no other special formations on the ceiling.  He decided to try jumping to it.  As he leaped through the air, his goal seemed to get farther and farther away.  The verdict: Gourry was nowhere near able to jump to it.  Snapping his fingers with a plan in mind, Gourry dropped down into the hole.  He began his plan as quickly as he could – piling the rubble and broken wood to form a sort of stairway to the trapdoor.  More than one and a half hours had passed before the trapdoor opened to reveal. . . a secret.

            Lina huffed angrily.  Moments before, the walls had moved to trap her in a sort of Z-shaped hallway.  Attempting to smolder her annoyance enough to think, Lina took out her compass.  She had entered from the south entrance, so. . . _that_ way (pointing with finger) was North.  Slowly, she put away her compass and held out Pyro's pokeball between her and the offending obstacle.  Lina commanded Pyro to use Flamethrower.  The pokeball opened as if releasing a pokemon, but instead, a bright, strong stream of flame.  It fully enveloped the wall in flames, but surprisingly, when the attack ceased, the wall remained uncharred.  Puzzled, Lina slowly took a few steps forward and touched the attacked deterrent.  She let out a startled yelp when her hand went through the wall, as if it were transparent.  Lina quickly retracted it.

            Soon, however, her curiosity got the better of her, and she tentatively eased her fingers into the wall again.  She shivered at the sensation.  It felt cool, refreshing even, as if a peaceful babbling brook were passing across her hand.  Taking a deep breath, Lina plunged into the depths of the transparent wall, in hopes of reaching the other side safely.  Fortunately, she did.

            Lina blinked with surprise as she did a double-take.  She seemed to be in an identical hallway.  Finally shrugging it off, she walked forward and tried the same thing on the northernmost wall.  Again, she managed to walk through with ease.  After repeating this several times with no change in scenery, she grew anxious and began running.  Lina soon lost count of the numerous walls that she passed through until…

            *BANG* Lina lay sprawled like a swatted fly against the first real wall she had come to since entering the maze.  Plopping down onto the wooden floor, Lina readily rubbed her squished nose.

            Lina softly muttered to herself, "Why didn't I see that coming?  This wall doesn't look _exactly_ like the transparent ones…  My poor nose…"

            Grudgingly, the young pokemon trainer stood up and lightly tapped on the wall with her knuckle.  From the echo it produced, Lina surmised that it was hollow – there was a room behind it.  Quickly making her decision, she pulled out Pyro's pokeball again and repeated her previous action.  "Flamethrower!"

            This time, it worked; Lina maneuvered the pokeball so that the flame made a complete circle wide enough for her to go through.  As soon as the circle was complete, the chunk of the wall fell away from her.  Nodding with silent approval, Lina walked through the thick barrier.  She found herself in a dojo-style room.  When the silence was met by an ominous clapping, Lina whirled to see where it was coming from.

            "Bravo, bravo.  Your skill with your pokemon is exceptional, Miss Lina."

            Lina declared to the male voice, "Show yourself!"

            Like magic, the owner of the voice appeared before her, their noses a mere inch apart.  "Is this better?"

            Startled, Lina took a step back, tripped on the bottom of the hole she made, and remained on the floor as she stared up at the person, the youngster before her.

            He didn't look to be any more than thirteen or fourteen, but he had an energy about him that told Lina otherwise.  His neat, purple hair came down to just above his shoulders, and matched amazingly well with his light yellow shirt, and black drawstring pants.  His outfit was outlined by a long black cape that he let flow around him.  His face emitted pure childish bliss, as he offered a gloved hand to help Lina up.  Suspicious at first, Lina finally took it and Xellos hoisted her to standing position.  Brushing off the debris, Lina began the interrogation; at least, she tried to.

            "So what's a guy like you doing in a place like this?"

            He happily replied, eyes still closed, "I could ask you the same thing."

            "I'm not a guy!" Lina huffed.  "I'm a _girl_ who just happens to be here to earn her eighth badge.  What about you?"

            "Eighth already?  You must be an excellent trainer, Miss Lina."

            Lina became slightly red at this.  "Well thanks…" Before she realized what Xellos was doing.  "Hey!  Don't change the subject!  What are you doing here and how do you know my name anyways?"

            The boy put a finger to his chin and made a little thinking pose.  "Hm…"  Quirking an eyebrow, he asked her, "Do you really want to know?"

            Lina's lips were set in a way as if preparing to pout.  She nodded almost solemnly.

            Smiling all the more, the boy moved his finger from his mouth to hers and responded, "Sore wa. . . himitsu desu! (In case you _really_ don't know, it's 'That is…a secret!")"

            Lina nearly exploded with embarassed rage; actually, she did.  She launched herself towards him, preparing to strangle him, when he disappeared into thin air.  Caught completely off guard, she stumbled and almost fell again where he stood earlier.  Lina straightened and looked around in surprise.  She called out, "Where are you?!"

            "And who might you be looking for, pray tell?"

            Lina whirled around again to find herself face to face with a young woman dressed in a pink ninja suit.  Her green eyes blinked with surprise as she watched Lina from behind a large bag of groceries.  Lina realized who this was with a start:  Iya, the Ninja Warrior, a.k.a. the Fuchsia City Gym Leader's younger sister.  As if an unbidden force told her to, Lina straightened before bending down in a quick bow.  This apparently surprised the woman, because Lina looked up to see her eyes slightly wider, an eyebrow raised.  Lina spoke quickly as if trying to get it all over with.

            "Hello, my name's Lina Inverse.  I'm here to battle for the Soul Badge.  I was looking for a guy about this high *gestures with hand* that was pestering me a little, but it doesn't matter.   Um…do you know where Koga, the leader of this gym, is?"

            "I'm right here."

            Lina and Iya looked towards the door that she had just entered from.  Walking towards them was a young man in a blue tunic and pants.  He was also carrying a grocery bag.

            He continued as he set the grocery bag down.  "I am Koga.  The one you are referring to, is most likely Xellos Metallium – a troublemaker third cousin of ours."

            Now it was Lina's turn to be surprised.  "Third cousin?  I've heard of second cousins…but third?"

            Koga shook his head.  "It would take much too long to explain.  We're only looking after him while his parents are away.  Now then, did you say you wanted to battle?"

            When Lina nodded, Koga answered, "I accept your challenge, but it will have to wait until the groceries are put away.  It should be done soon enough."

            Lina bit her lip hesitantly before walking forward and offering her help.  Koga and Iya exchanged glances before Iya told her that the ninja code would be disgraced if they accepted such help from a stranger.  Lina pointed out that the average ninja probably wouldn't be caught shopping in the first place.  They were stricken quiet by that remark; she had a point.  In the end, the ninja duo accepted Lina's help, and they walked together to the kitchen.  As they walked, Lina told them that she had come with two others.  Iya told her that on the way in, they had noticed that several traps had been set off, and had gone to investigate.  However, neither of them could find a trace of a person aside from Lina herself.  Koga shrugged at this; he guessed that Xellos had taken them to have a little fun on his own.  When Lina groaned, Koga assured her that they would get her friends back eventually.

            The fiery young pokemon trainer laughed at this, saying that she was sure they'd come back, but her groan had really been her stomach growling, as she hadn't eaten for what must be several hours by then.  Iya told her that she was welcome to join them for lunch after the groceries were put away and the gym battle had taken place.  Lina thanked her graciously for this.

            Lina's stomach growled again as she was putting away all of the delicious, but raw food; her mouth watered at the sight of steak.  After what seemed like hours of waiting, and transferring, they finally returned to the dojo room for their battle.  Koga promised to make it quick so that they could search for their friends more.  Lina agreed and the battle commenced.

            Iya refereed this one-on-one pokemon battle.  Koga released his Venonat and Lina was about to choose Pyro, but at the last moment, thought better of it.  She didn't want to risk _burning_ the place down.  Lina wondered which pokemon she had on her main team that needed the most experience.  With a snap of her fingers, she figured it out and called on Victreebel.

            Either Victreebel was much weaker than Lina had first thought, or Venonat was especially well trained, because the battle was a lot tougher than Lina had imagined.  Nevertheless she stuck through it, and commanded her pokemon with complete confidence.

            First, Lina started the battle with an experimental Razor Leaf which Venonat dodged in a twirl of a jump.  Seeing how that didn't work, Lina was about to it with a Vine Whip when Venonat suddenly started releasing Stun Spore.  In a spontaneous moment, Lina told Victreebel to extract its vines and twist them like a sort of fan.  Fortunately, though it hadn't been practiced, it worked.  Venonat was soon coughing out inhaled Stun spore, rendering it near paralyzed.  Lina took this opportunity to have Victreebel use a surrounding Razor Leaf like she had practiced.  It worked like magic; Venonat was again caught off guard.  Nevertheless, it was persistent, staying on its feet until the very end.  Lina commended its stubbornness, but decided to surprise it further by using the Underground Vine whip to take hold of its feet from underground, drag it back near Victreebel using the same pathway, and finishing it with a devastating Seismic Toss.  Venonat was down and out.  Koga was vastly surprised by this sudden barrage of attacks.  He congratulated Lina after Iya announced her to be the winner.  Smiling happily, Lina returned Victreebel to its pokeball and rushed forward to give Venonat some of her sweet potion.  Venonat was instantly revived and jumping.  Koga shook his head with a smile at this.  "I don't think you'll ever stop surprising me, Lina.  You're truly one of a kind."

            Lina smiled up at Koga at this.  Her smile brightened when he handed her the Soul Badge.

            "Now then, it's time to go search for your friend."

            "There's no need.  I found them for you.  ^_^"

            They all turned to see Xellos standing happily by the doorway with one of Lina's companions in each hand.  Both figures seemed unconscious as he unceremoniously dropped them onto the floor.  With that, he disappeared before anyone could say another word.

            Held slightly spellbound, Lina said in a daze, "Uh…thanks…I guess."

            To her surprise, Xellos' voice echoed in the room, "It was my _pleasure_."

            Lina sighed before going to check on her friends.  After a little _persuasion_, they were both up and about.  A swapping of stories took place shortly thereafter.  Gourry and Zel had both been caught in traps, lost consciousness, and, according to Xellos, was rescued by him.  Lina had met Xellos after getting through a maze, then met Iya and Koga, had the gym battle and won.  Tired from their ordeal, whatever it was, Zel and Gourry only half-heartedly congratulated Lina.

            Soon, they were all eating lunch together, with Lina and Gourry leaving the ninja pair utterly flabbergasted by their appetites.  After the huge pile of dishes were washed, and they helped repair some of the traps they destroyed, the travelers were on their way again.  Xellos lingered outside after Iya and Koga saw them off, watching them turn into specks in the sky.  With a smirk, he disappeared once more.

            As they took flight, Zel on Pidgeot, and Lina and Gourry on Charizard, Lina led the way.  When asked where she was headed, she replied simply, "To visit an old friend of mine."

A/N:  Well?  What do you think?  Come on, the only reason why I delayed this update so much is that I didn't get any reviews.  If I don't get reviews, how can I know if anyone's reading my story?  And if nobody reads it, what's the point of writing it?   -_- See how much your opinion affects me?  Please Review!


	14. A Kindled Flame

A/N: *Gets starry eyed* Reviews!  TWO of them!  ^-^ I'm appeased…for now...please review some more!  Since you two reviewed I think all of these chapters, I'll let you all in on a little secret: I'll try to get Xellos to stay as a constant companion with them, and Lord Shabby will be a pokemon ^_^  If you've seen the first season of Slayers, I think you can guess who owns him.  ^_^  I also hope to make the last chapters much more interesting, and tougher for Lina.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything that isn't mine to own.

**Ch.**** 14: A Kindled Flame**

**A Few Fiery Friends**

            When Lina suddenly stopped, Gourry and Zel instinctively lurched forward.  Holding onto Lina's waist, lest he fall some fifty feet to the ground, Gourry asked her, "Oi, what's wrong, Lina?"

            Lina didn't answer for a spell; she merely looked down at the town they were flying over.  Finally, she shuddered and shook her head with a small smile.  "It's nothing Gourry.  Don't worry about it."  With that, she commanded Charizard to make a smooth swerve westward, towards the next gym on Cinnabar Island.  Zel sensed that Lina was hiding something, but said nothing as he rode the current to fly alongside Lina and Gourry.  For the rest of the flight, until they landed in a port facing the island, Lina stared listlessly ahead of her, lost in her own thoughts.  Charizard knew this, and remained steady in his flight.

            When Lina had left the Fuchsia City Gym, she had planned on stopping by in Zephilia, the place of memories, her earliest memories of all.  Everyone she had grown up with was there, well, everyone except for her sister.  She was still working as a waitress in Pallet Town, as far as Lina knew anyway.  But when she looked over it then, when she stopped, her heart panged with guilt.  It was a happy, prosperous place now, she shouldn't get anywhere near them anymore.  It'd be safer if she simply got this dumb tournament out of the way already.  She had her strong pokemon.  She didn't need anything else, but to be proclaimed what she already knew she was – the Pokemon Master of the Kanto region.

            It was high noon by the time they reached the port of Vista de Pasta (^_^).  Head clear of any remorse, at least on the surface, Lina ate her fish and pasta heartily.  Sipping his tea, Zel couldn't help but see the forced look, though slight, in Lina's expression, especially her eyes.  Finally, he got fed up with it.  Once Lina called for the bill, he ventured to ask, "Alright Lina, what's wrong?  You've been acting strange ever since you stopped over that town."

            Lina blinked in surprise, but immediately sunk her eyelids, focusing on her hands in her lap.  Gourry also seemed a bit interested in the answer, though he seemed to be mindlessly picking between his teeth with a toothpick.

            Her hands clenched into trembling fists as she stumbled over a soft response.  "I…I can't…"  Lina sighed and looked into Zel's eyes.  He saw the deep regret that was none-so-well-hidden in her eyes.  She blurted out, "I can't tell you.  Sorry, but I just…can't.  'scuse me."  Lina quickly stood up and left the table.  Just then, the waiter came by with the bill.  This wasn't a Pokemon Center, so it was anything but free.  Luckily, Zel and Gourry had enough money together to pay for it.  After the waiter left, Zel and Gourry exchanged a long look.  Should they go after Lina?  It would be the right thing to do as friends, but they weren't sure if Lina just wanted to be left alone.  Lina was the type of person that if things didn't go her way, she'd blow up at the culprits.  At last, Zel decided for them both that they would go find Lina.  At the very least, they should know where she is, in case she doesn't come back in time for the ferry.

            They searched the town thrice over without a trace of Lina whatsoever.  Nobody had seen a little red-haired girl all day.  The pair employed the help of their pokemon, and still received no answers.  Finally, Zel called it a day a left a message at the Pokemon Center.  It said how they had gone ahead, and were going to wait in Cinnabar Island.  Zel hadn't forgotten Lina's suggestion that Cinnabar Island might have his cure.  Gourry didn't want to leave Lina behind, considering that this was _her_ pokemon quest…but he had heard what great food was sold on the Island, so that spirit won over in the end.  Besides, Lina could just fly to the Island if she really needed to.  With that, they boarded the ferry in slight remorse.

            That remorse was replaced with surprise, however, when they came face-to-face with Lina, getting a suntan on a fold-out beach chair on the top deck.  As casual as if this happened every day, Lina waved her hand in greeting.  "Hey!  What took you so long?"

            Still trying to get over the fact that Lina had been on the boat of all places, Zel stumbled, "We- We were looking for _you_."

            Lina laughed with carefree mirth.  "Don't you know that I love boats?  I've been here for _hours_!  Come on, pull up a seat."

            Zel and Gourry did just that, while Lina ordered an ice-cold drink for them both.  Before long, they adjusted and became very comfortable.  Zel was reading a book, while Gourry was dozing off.  Lina was simply soaking up the sun's rays as the ferry started to move.

            "Lina?!  What are you doing here?"

            Lina jumped clear off her seat at the sudden voice.  She turned towards it angrily, but the anger was immediately dispelled when she saw who it was.  Gary Oak.  Lina ran toward the young trainer and gripped him in a tight neck hug.  "Onii-chan!"

            Gary staggered backward by the sudden force, but awkwardly pat Lina on the back.  "So uh…How've you been?"

            Lina released him and happily rocked back and forth on her heels.  "I'm fine.  You?"

            Gary haughtily proclaimed, "I'm great!  I just won my eighth badge!"

            Lina smiled in return.  "Really?  Me too."

            That stopped him in his tracks.  He peered down at her cautiously.  "Flash?"

            A wide grin spread over her face.  "Go!"

            Both of them flipped open their badge cases to reveal their set of badges.  Lina's had the Boulder, Cascade, Thunder, Marsh, Ghost, Rainbow, Soot, and Soul Badge.  Gary's badges matched hers, but he had one more- the Track badge, from Zephilia.  He grinned at this.  "Looks like I've got one more than you do."

            Lina glowered at him.  "Phooey.  I don't want that badge anyways."  Changing the subject abruptly, Lina brightened up and pushed Gary towards her chair.  "Sit, sit!"

            "Alright, alright!  Stop pushing!"  At that moment, Lina stopped, allowing Gary to trip head over heels into the chair.  As soon as he adjusted and lay down, Lina catapulted onto the chair very close to him.  A childish expression played on her face.  As Gary groaned in slight pain, Lina realized something.  "Hey, where are those girls, those um, cheerleaders?"

            Gary grimaced as he responded, "Probably on a restroom break."

            Gourry, being who he is, asked, "_All_ of them?"

            It was then that Gary turned to Lina's companions.  "Well, where one goes the others will follow.  That reminds me, I don't think we've met yet.  I'm Gary Oak, grandson of Prof. Oak, and a childhood friend of Lina's.  You are?"

            Gourry piped up, "Gourry Gabriev, brother of the Cerulean Sisters, I'm Lina's bodyguard.  Nice to meet ya."

            In a rather offhand manner, Zel introduced himself while still reading his book, "Zelgadis Greywerds, Pewter City Gym Leader.  Temporary Traveling Companion of Lina's."

            Gary looked suspiciously at Lina.  "Just _what_ have you been up to these days, _hm_?"

            Lina chuckled slightly.  She was about to respond when she was _rudely_ interrupted.

            "Gary?!  And…you!"

            They all turned at the outburst.  Ash Ketchum headed the trio.  Lina frowned as she remarked ruefully, "I have a _name_ you know.  How rude."  She turned to Gary energetically as she changed her voice completely.  "Ne, ne!  Onii-chan!  Watch this!  I learned a new trick!  Fireball!"

            As she said 'Fireball', she directed her fire pokeball towards Ash, while still sitting down.  The pokeball opened a little, and sent forward a huge ball of fire.  Misty and Brock had instinctively jumped away before the ball had hit its mark.  Beads of sweat cascaded down their heads, nervous as to whether or not Lina would choose a new target.  It hit Ash dead on, making his face match his name.  Gary laughed at this.  "Great trick Lina-chan!  That really _is _a new one!  But you know… you shouldn't attack people like that, even if it's Ashy boy."

            Now it was Ash's turn to feel insulted.  Rubbing the charcoal and ash off his face, he declared, "That wasn't fair!  Let's have a real battle!"  Pikachu backed this up with his own two cent reply.

            Lina cheered inwardly at the chance to show off in front of who she considered her older brother.  "You _dolt_.  We already battled, and I _creamed_ you."

            Ash growled with frustration, but he could hardly argue with that, though he tried.  "That wasn't fair either!  You used Pikachu's family against him!"

            Lina scoffed.  "It's your own fault as a trainer if you can't get your pokemon to battle for you.  No matter _who_ the opponent is."

            Pikachu's ears drooped at this.  "Pika…(Okaa-san…)"

            In a lighthearted manner, Lina addressed Pikachu.  "(Don't worry, Kairo.  I don't blame you at all.  I'd never fight with my mother either.)"

            Pikachu's ears immediately shot straight up at this.  Like a loving pet, he scampered down Ash, and leaped onto the chair next to Lina.  She stroked the top of his head, knowing it would make him happy.  It did just that.

            Suddenly, Lina yet out a big yawn.  "Wow, this sun must have made me really sleepy.  I'm going to go catch a nap on the top roof.  Want to come?  Zel?  Gourry?"

            "No thanks, I'll stay here."

            "Me too."

            Lina shrugged.  "Fine then.  See you around then.  Nice seein' ya Gary.  Hmm…Ah!  Archie, come on out!"

            As Lina climbed onto Arcanine's back, Gary commented, "Yeah, see you later, Lina-chan.  Nice Arcanine, by the way."

            "Thanks!  Come on Archie, jump onto the roof."

            Archie did as his mistress commanded as fluent as liquid water.  When Lina was out of sight of them, she told Arcanine to stop and sleep.  After Archie was comfortable, Lina lay down against Archie, partly covered by his tail.

            Lina managed to get a few minutes of shut-eye before she was again rudely interrupted.  "Do you always sleep on rooftops Lina-chan?"  Lina woke up to Archie growling.  Absently, she outstretched her hand to caress his mane, to calm him.  She wearily opened her eyes to see who the voice belonged to.  It sounded vaguely familiar… ah.  The one called Xellos.

            Grouchily she responded, "What do _you_ want?"

            Xellos furrowed an eyebrow while pouting.  "I can't simply come to see one of my best friends?"

            Lina closed her eyes as she replied, "First of all, I'd hardly call us friends, and second of all, no.  What do you want?"

            Xellos put a finger to his chin as he said, "Hmm…That is…a secret! ^_^"

            The red-headed girl raised an eyebrow before scoffing.  In a low murmur she grumbled, "Fine, if you aren't going to tell me, leave me alone.  I want to finish my nap."

            Through her closed eyes, Lina could sense Xellos pouting as he responded, "Awww…but what fun would _that_ be?"

            Archie growled again, hiding Xellos' additional mutter of, "I couldn't annoy you, torture you, or tease you until you blew your top off…"

            Unfortunately for him, Lina's sharp sense of hearing caught this, and she frowned, looking at him with one eye.  Lina grunted in disgust as she stood up.  She clicked her tongue once, and Archie stood up as well.  Xellos looked up at her with surprise.

            Lina kicked him hard in the shins before walking away.  Xellos hissed with slight pain, but only followed her with his eyes.  Lina let out a short whistle… and Archie barbequed him as well.  Xellos blew out a puff of smoke and forced a grin.  As Lina jumped down with Archie, his grin became genuine.  "It looks like this will be more fun than I expected, Lina-chan."

            With the swiftness of futuristic teleporting, Xellos vanished into thin air.

            Meanwhile, Lina was watching the calm blue seas from behind the rail.  "Ne Archie," she began, as she stroked his fur, "Do you ever think I'll be able to return home?"

            In response, Archie nuzzled Lina's side and softly growled, "(When you're ready.)"

            Lina smiled wanly, and continued to watch the water with a wistful smile.  "Thank you…for your support.  You'll still be with me then, right?"

            Archie nuzzled her again as he answered, "(I will always follow you.  You will always be my mistress, even after I die.)"

            Lina chuckled slightly at this, but Archie knew that Lina was grateful, from the difference of her caress.

            "Oi, Lina?"

            Lina slowly turned…to face Gourry.  She smiled wanly.  "What's up?"

            Gourry shrugged.  "Nothin'.  I just wanted to see what you were doing."

            Lina shrugged in return, facing the ocean again.  "Just watching the ocean.  Care to join me?"

            Gourry nodded and walked towards her.  Lina sat down behind the rail, and Archie followed her example, resting his head on her leg.  Lina continued to stroke his fur, as he fell into a peaceful sleep.  When Gourry seated himself beside her, Lina made no notice, concentrating her stare to the peaceful waters.

            After a long silence, Gourry asked, "Hey, Lina, why did you stop at that town anyways?"

            Lina let out an exasperated laugh.  "Didn't I tell you?  That was my hometown.  Zephilia."

            Gourry's mind to some very quick registering on his account.  "Isn't that where your family is?"

            When Gourry glanced at Lina, he caught the forlorn look so obviously displayed on her face.  "….Lina?"

            With a start, as if just snapping out of a reverie, Lina looked up at Gourry.  Gourry could see tears waiting to burst out at the slightest provocation.  She gave him a forced smile.  "Can we not talk about this, please?"

            Startled, Gourry could only nod.  Calming down, he smiled softly.  "Sure, but you know, my grandma always told me that the best way to get rid of pain is to share it with others."

            A soft growl emitted from deep within her throat as she looked down at Archie.  "My problem would be more troublesome then a flu, but with similar effects.  I wouldn't get better instantly, but others would suffer with me.  Personally, I don't care for the saying, ' Misery loves company'."

            "Is it really that bad?"  Receiving no answer, Gourry sighed as he leaned back, facing the ocean blue.  "Well, if that's how you feel, I won't force you to tell me.  But do you mind if I tell mine?"

            Again answered with silence, Gourry took a deep breath and began.  "My family runs a really ancient temple, to worship these really powerful pokemon.  The spirits of them were kept in statues in separate shrines.  I have four older brothers, and it was our job to take care of them.  There were five total, so one for each of us to care for.  Mine was a light blue one; I forget the name of it though.  Well, one day this shady guy comes and demands that we show us where the shrines are.  My parents were easily swayed, so they did as they were told.  I watched as he placed his hand in the indent in front of the statue, and the statue came to life.  My oldest brother's was a black animal with yellow markings.  It gave off a sparkle when it turned from stone to well, flesh.

            I remember that we were all surprised, especially when that guy caught him in a purple pokeball.  The pokemon didn't even put up a struggle.  He moved onto the next shrine, and repeated this.  Mine was last in the row.  Wanting to save it, I did the same thing he did, but on my own assigned pokemon.  I was really surprised when it actually worked.  It sparkled like sun on shallow water as I quickly told it to follow me to safety.  He looked over at his friends, and he understood immediately.  He jumped onto my shoulder, and I ran – fast.  Apparently, nobody had noticed me, yet.  I scrambled to my room, shoved my life savings and a change of clothes in a bag, slid down the stairs to grab some snacks from the kitchen, before running through the back, the opposite direction of where my family was.  I never saw that pokemon stealer, or my family, again.

            I ran through the forest area where I came across a back road.  Glancing both directions, I crossed quickly, and continued through the forest.  I didn't stop until I was well inside the next town.  Thinking the pokemon would want some water, I brought it over to the fountain in the town square.  It lapped up the water happily, and to my surprise, blended in with the water.  While it was drinking, I shuffled through my bag to look for some food, and I came across a pokeball I received as a present.  I looked from the pokeball to the pokemon, and grimaced.  I walked over to it and asked if it wanted to be my pokemon.  I promised that as long as I lived, I would always take care of it, and protect it from harm.  I think it knew I was telling the truth, because it agreed, allowing itself to be sucked into the pokeball.  Once I attached it to my belt, I went into a nearby restaurant's restroom, and changed my clothes.  Well, that's it."

            Lina had a dazed expression on her face.  After a while, she murmured.  "For someone who can never remember anything I've told him, you sure seem like a great storyteller.  Too bad it doesn't seem right."

            Gourry chuckled slightly.  "What don't you believe?  It's what happened you know."

            "For one thing, pokemon generally don't live after being incased in stone.  Why would a handprint bring them back to life?"

            "I dunno, it just happened."

            "Secondly, I didn't see a pokemon like that in my Statidex database.  Where is it?"

            "It's in my Scyther's pokeball now."

            "Two pokemon can't fit in one pokeball."

            "They can if one pokemon's a spirit, and it's a spirit pokeball."

            "A _what_?"

            "A spirit pokeball.  Pokeballs used by holy religious trainers."

            "…Well, fine, but still, what about the whole stone thing?  What set of legendary pokemon has five sparkling pokemon in it….?  Ah!  No!  It couldn't be!  Gourry!"

            Startled, Gourry looked at Lina.  "What?"

            "You have what I desire, Gourry Gabriev.  The Metallic Vaporeon."

            Lina, Gourry, and Arcanine looked up, to see that the voice belonged to a man, in a black cloak, hovering in the air, over the water.

A/N: *Sigh* That took forever to write!  I just couldn't get serious and write it!  You know why, don't you?  It's the lack of reviews!  If I'm a car, reviews are my gasoline!  Fill me up!  Review! :P


	15. A Blazing Battle

Ch. 15 – A Blazing Battle

Water Puts out Fire, or Does it?

            "Who are you?!"  Lina demanded.  Her face looked bewildered with a slight tint of fear masked by anger.

            The hooded figure chuckled deeply in reply.  "You _know_ who I am.  Lina Inverse."

            Lina had clenched her hands into fists so tightly that her knuckles had turned white.  Worried, Archie whimpered and licked Lina's closest hand.  But it did no good.  Softly, she spoke, her head looking down at her feet.

            "I never expected to see you again.  I honestly and truly didn't.  I was going to ask what you were doing here, but I think I already know."

            Gourry was starting to get really worried.  Tentatively, he stood up.  "…Lina?"  He reached for Lina, but she swatted his hand away fiercely.  In an undertone she ground out.  "Go find Zel and Gary.  Tell them that I can't guarantee that I'll be back, but I'll try.  And don't try to interfere.  This is _my_ problem, and _my_ battle.  Archie, I can't use you right now, so return."  A bit louder, she added, "Pyro, let's take to the skies!"

            With split-second timing, Lina was above the mysterious man, who levitated up to meet her.  Gourry looked up at them with worry.  Regret coursing through his heart, he took a step backward slowly, before turning to run towards the others.

            As soon as he breathed out his message, both Zel and Gary jumped up.  Gary was surprised beyond belief.  He looked towards where Gourry said Lina was.  Two pinpricks in the blue air could be seen.  Half to himself, Gary murmured, "This isn't like Lina.  She'd _never_ say something like that.  Unless…"  Gary's eyes opened wide with realization.  "Oh no.  It can't be…Gourry!  What did you say this guy looked like?"

            Gourry had to think a while before he slowly said, "Well, he had this really clean black cloak…I think I saw a bit of dirty blond hair from under his hood…from a distance I'd estimate that he was like six feet tall…oh and he had a deep voice.  That's all I can think of."

            Gary grimaced.  "It's him all right.  Zel, Gourry, we have to convince the captain to go full throttle to Cinnabar Island.  We can't stay anywhere near this area."

            Gourry immediately asked, "What about Lina?"

            Gary shook his head.  "Trust me, she won't want any of us anywhere near her right now."

            Zel apparently understood Gary's dire need.  "I'll take care of the captain."

            Gary nodded and turned to Gourry as Zel strode off.  "Gourry, tell all of the trainers with water pokemon to go to the back of the boat and have their pokemon use water gun so we can go faster.  I'm going to go underwater and spread the word to move out.  I have a flying pokemon, so I'll catch up to you when I'm done.  Let's go!"

            Gary was a very authoritative figure, who, like Lina, took control whenever necessary.  Likewise, people immediately obeyed in response, trusting them for the greater good.

Once the boat had evacuated the area as well as the sea life, Gary glanced up at the two figures.  They were just standing still, so there was still time.  He used his Pidgeot to fly up towards them.

Meanwhile, Lina was engaged in an anxious argument with the masked visitor.  Lina was speaking first.  "How did you track me down?"

The hooded figure cracked a grin, and spoke with a voice bathed in familiarity.  "My dear Lina, you didn't honestly expect for me not to notice you hovering above our beloved town, now did you?"

Lina's eyes widened in amazement.  She mildly cursed under her breath, before murmuring, "I'd forgotten about you."

The man shook his head as he waggled his gloved hand.  "Tsk tsk Lina.  How could you _possibly_ forget someone like me?  Your own _father_."

A searing white blaze of anger penetrated Lina's cool composure, and her temper erupted with the ferocity of a large volcano.  "You are NOT my father!  I _refuse_ to admit to it, and I will never _accept_ you as such."

As calm as the surface of a shallow pond, the man softly responded, "Just because you don't accept me, doesn't make it any less true.  You are my own flesh and blood, carved and molded by the river of time."

Lina couldn't help but scoff and muttered, "That is _so_ corny."

In an instant, the man disappeared and reappeared directly in front of Lina.  Charizard floated paralyzed a few meters below them.  He had the chain of her cape in his hand.  Lina was now close enough to see his maliciously red eyes.  The eyes that she had as well.

"'Corny' as it may seem, it _is_ true.  You should accept things for the way they are, Lina_-chan­_."

Lina tried to escape his grip in vain as she yelled almost right in his ear, "I AM THE GREAT LINA INVERSE!!  I DECIDE MY LIFE FOR MYSELF!  I DON'T-"

The source of Lina's extremely loud echo was cut short, for she had been rendered unconscious via a hefty blow to the stomach.  Below her, Pyro whined with desire to assist his mistress.  The man snarled at the Pokemon as he shouldered her.  "Shut your trap.  You wouldn't want to fall into the water now would you?"

"Stop!  What are you doing with Lina?!"

Lina's "father" turned to look at the new voice; Gary was flying on his Pidgeot.  "Stay out of this, boy.  It is not of your concern."

Gary's answer was echoed by another voice at the same time.  "Of course it is."  Both Gary and the perpetrator turned to see Zel, flying upon his own Pidgeot.  He continued to say, "Lina's our friend, and we're not going to stand by and let her be taken like this.  Right, Gary?"

Gary smirked and nodded in response.  "You've got _that_ right.  Now give back Lina!"

The man let out a raucous laugh.  "I've been following Lina's actions since she was _born_.  Do you really think I'll 'give her back' that easily?"

Zel threatened, "Then I guess we'll just have to take her back by force."

He waggled a figure.  "Uh unh uh.  You can't do that.  You don't want poor _Lina_ to get _hurt_, do you?"

Zel grit his teeth, beginning to seethe in anger.  Gary remained relatively calm as he challenged, "Fine then.  Let's have a pokemon battle.  If I win, you have to give Lina back to us."

His voice hinted amusement as he answered, "And if _I _win?"

Gary grinned.  "You won't.  If you win, Lina won't be happy at all."

They could detect a malicious smile displayed amongst his expression.  "Sounds good to me.  Alright, I accept the terms.  I will be returning Lina to Cinnabar Island.  Should you find us, I will battle you.  Farewell for now."

With that, he disappeared, along with Lina.  Charizard's paralysis ended with the conversation.  The two teens watched as Charizard dropped a few feet before catching the current and making a vertical U-turn.  He did this with such carefree finesse that they didn't doubt Lina had trained him to do that until it had become natural instinct.  With nothing more to do, they went to Cinnabar Island, accompanied by Lina's Charizard.

After they found and explained the situation to Gourry, he asked, "So what do we do?"

Gary declared indignantly, "Isn't it _obvious_?!"  When it seemed apparent that Gourry didn't think so, he explained, "We're going to rescue Lina!"

Gourry murmured a simple, "Oh," before his curiosity got in the way of his common sense.  "Where is she then?"

"She's-" Gary stopped, and realized that he wouldn't know where Lina was on Cinnabar Island.  He chuckled nervously, "Actually, I have no idea."

Zel groaned into his hand.  His immediate thoughts were, "What am I doing with a couple of idiots like them?"

Out loud, he asked, "Who does she know here?"

Gary shrugged.  "I'm not sure.  She's done a lot of traveling and befriending in her ten years.  Cinnabar…Oh!  I think the retired Gym Leader Blaine is her great uncle."

Nonchalantly, Zel suggested, "Let's start there.  Lead the way."

Gary looked disgruntled.  Softly, he informed them, "We'll have to ask around; I don't know where he lives."

As Zel began walking away, he commented under his breath, "Stinkin' no good imbeciles."

Fortunately, neither heard him, but it was decided that whoever found Lina would find a way to contact the others.  Gary let Gourry borrow his Fearow in case he needed a flying pokemon.  They set out in different directions.  Zel took the Northern section of the island, Gary the South, and Gourry in between.

**

Lina groaned.  A bruising pain in her stomach and intestines told her not only that she was injured, but that she was also really hungry.  Her stomach growled to second this notion.  She tried to move her hand to comfort her stomach, but she was met with a force stopping it in the air, and a metal clang that echoed in her ears.  Lina winced at the sudden set of reverberations.

"Finally awake are you?  My, Lina-chan, I never knew you had grown to be such a deep sleeper!"

Lina slowly raised her head to look around.  She was in what appeared to be an underground stone dungeon, but it was stiflingly hot.  Lina could feel several drops of sweat cascading carefully down the length of her body, in an attempt to cool her off.  Directly in front of her, on the opposite wall, she saw a figure in shambles tied to the wall by manacles, a woman who looked vaguely familiar…No, it couldn't be.  But it was.

"…Okaa-san?"

The woman smiled at her and nodded.  In a lighthearted voice, barely masking her sorrow, the elderly woman asked, "How have you been Lina?  What have you been doing?"

Lina ignored her questioning to ask questions of her own.  "Never mind small talk.  What are _you_ doing here, okaa-san?  Did *he* put you here?  Where is 'here' anyways?"

Unlike Lina, she took the time to answer her inquiries.  "Me?  I'm here to keep you company.  Yes, your father put me here, but it's alright.  I don't mind if it means seeing you again.  This is the dungeon near the volcano on Cinnabar Island."

As much as she tried to keep it in, tears welled up from Lina's tear sacs.  "Why do you keep saying that?  He's _not_ my father!  He never was and he never will be!"

Lina shut her eyes from the reality of things, and failed to see the look of sympathy in her mother's eyes.  "Lina-chan…don't say that.  If it weren't for him, you would have never been born."

In a flash of anguish, Lina yelled, "THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN BETTER!  AT LEAST I WOULDN'T HAVE TO LIVE EVERY SINGLE DAY IN SHAME!"  A choking sob kept Lina from going any further with her yells.  A single tear marred her flushed cheek.  Her throat was sore from yelling, and was dry from lack of water.

A whisper in comparison, a voice murmured, "Lina-chan, I wouldn't advise yelling here.  You would draw attention to yourself."

With a start, Lina recognized the new voice, and looked up.  She broke into a half-smile.  "Heh.  I never thought I'd say this but, I'm glad you're here, Xellos.  Do you mind unlocking my manacles?"

Xellos cocked his head innocently to one side.  "Why would I want to do that?"

A small ball of fear rolled into Lina's system then.  "What do you mean?  Didn't you come here to help me?"

Xellos placed a finger on his lower lips, and began tapping it thoughtfully.  "Hmm… It depends.  What are you willing to offer for my assistance?"

Lina let out an aggravated sigh.  "I don't know, what kind of thing are you thinking of?"

"Well, how about tolerating my presence during your travels, until you settle down?"

Lina raised an eyebrow.  "That'd be a long, _long_ time.  But…I suppose.  Now unlock me!"

            Xellos made a mock bow.  "As you wish."  Mid-bow, he snapped his fingers, and the manacles were gone.  Lina rubbed her sore wrists to get her blood flowing again.  She muttered, "Thanks."  In the corner of her eye, she saw her mother, and added, "Hey, could you unlock my mom too?"

            Xellos looked across the way and shrugged.  He snapped his fingers again and Lina's mother crumpled to the floor.  Lina ran over to make sure she was okay; she was, but had fainted.  When Xellos walked over to her, she asked for another favor.  "Xellos?  I have another favor to ask of you.  Do you think you could take her to the Riddle Inn on the Northern section of Cinnabar Island?"

            The purple-haired ninja sighed.  "I suppose, but you owe me an ice cream cone from Saffron!"

           Before Lina could agree, he took hold of the elderly woman, and disappeared into thin air.  Lina sighed and stood up.  Now that that was covered, she set her mind on her current goal - to escape, no matter what stood in her way.

            She took another skimming survey of the room she was trapped in.  Stone walls covered with scattered damp moss and cobwebs surrounded her above, below, behind, to her left, and to her right.  There was only one way out of the windowless room – the small steel door in the center of the wall before her.  Lina checked her pokemon status.  Her Charizard wasn't with her; he must have been left behind.  She hoped that her friends were taking care of him.  Other than him though, she had all of her pokemon that she had on the boat.

            Lina released Arcanine and told him to use Flamethrower to burn a hole through the doorway.  It worked as planned and Lina leaped out of the cell upon her pokemon steed.  Following the narrow hallway, she soon found a long spiral staircase.  Determined to get to the top, Lina had Arcanine gallop up the steps fifteen at a time.  It took a while, but she finally broke the surface.  As she looked around her, Lina couldn't help but gulp nervously.  She was at the top of Mt. Magma, a semi-active volcano that loomed at least 8,000 feet over Cinnabar City.  She looked around, and caught sight of the Riddle Inn far below.  Steering precariously, Lina backed up Arcanine, and prepared to make a jump.  When Arcanine realized what she wanted to do, he suddenly dug in his paws and refused to budge.  The sudden stop allowed for Lina to be bucked off.

            A harsh laughter erupted from the skies above.  "It looks like your pokemon doesn't want to obey you, Lina-chan."

            Lina growled as she looked up in the direction of the voice.  "Shut up!  I don't need your commentary!"

            The same voice rang with laughter once again.  "Tsk, Tsk, Lina-chan.  You shouldn't talk back to your elders like that."  
            Again, Lina yelled out, "YOU HAVE NO CONTROL OVER ME!  I'LL DO WHATEVER I WANT!"

            The masculine voice sighed, as the owner of it suddenly appeared before Lina, easily balancing on the edge of the volcano.  In a soothing voice, like a parent talking down to a five- year-old, he asked, "Just who are you trying to convince, Lina-chan?  Me or you?"

            The chibified red-head was on the brink of tears from such distressed yelling.  "Stop calling me that!  You have NO right to be so formal with me!  And I don't need to convince anyone because it's my God-given right!"

            His laugh mocked Lina for another stinging blow.  "'God-given right'?  How naïve.  If there is no hard proof that your 'God' exists, then you cannot depend on him to give you 'rights'."

            Lina bent her head down as her hands became clenched fists again.  She couldn't give in now.  She couldn't let him win over her.  She couldn't … disgrace her family again.

            Lina took a few calming breaths until she went from seething mad to a small smoldering.  Slowly, she looked up at her adversary with complete seriousness in her composure.  "Let's battle."

            The man grinned.  "If that is your decision, then allow me to present the battlefield."

            With one quick motion, he stripped himself of his black cape to reveal a sturdy adult of his mid-30's in a crimson cotton shirt underneath a pair of black leather trousers.  His disheveled red hair was, in the mind of a hair specialist, a true well-kept masterpiece.  His now apparent grin revealed pearly white teeth.

           As if by magic, his cape enlarged and tightened to cover the top of the volcano.  Lines were drawn in the middle of it, to show the battlefield.  Naturally, Lina was a bit skeptical.  "You sure that can hold pokemon?"

            "About as much as a trampoline can," was the reply.  "Shall we begin?"

            Lina's exhale had the impression of being disgruntled.  "Yes, let's.  Terms are 6-on-6 Pokemon battle; first to have no pokemon available loses."

            As they walked over to their respective trainer boxes, the man gestured, "Ladies first."

            "Tch.  Fine.  Let's go Arcanine!"

            Arcanine easily jumped to the center of the field, and the cape met the force with little movement.  It was drawn so taut that it was more like a stiff mattress then a trampoline.

            With a smooth movement of his hand, he chose a pokeball and released a Starmie onto the field.  Instinctively, Lina grimaced, but upon remembering how she had trained Arcanine, she turned it into a smirk.  She called out to Arcanine in its own language, "(Alright Archie, this is it.  I won't pressure you, but it's really important to me that you help me win this battle.  Just remember that this is like any other water pokemon, and we've trained to overcome them.  Let's win it!)"

            Arcanine barked in affirmative and went into battle stance.  The man made the first move.  "Starmie, Rapid Spin."

            As Starmie came at an amazingly swift rate, Arcanine barely had time to dodge before it turned back for another round.  The only difference was that it used Swift at the same time.  Caught off guard, Arcanine had trouble dodging, resulting in multiple scratches.  Arcanine tried to use a tackle, but Starmie easily dodged and used Water Gun on him.  The attack hit him in between his eyes and he yelped.

Lina cheered/goaded him on, saying that she knew he could do much better than that.  When Starmie came back around with another Rapid Spin, Arcanine was better prepared; he jumped at just the right time so that he could land on Starmie.  Since his weight was probably twice that of Starmie's, it was easily pulled down and pinned.  Losing no time, Arcanine barbequed it with a direct full-blown Flamethrower.  Despite the obvious type advantage, Starmie was no match against a head on attack like that.  Its jewel flashed a fainted red.

The man returned Starmie.  "Well done, Lina-chan.  But see if you can handle _this_."

With that, he released a Marowak.  Lina had to fight to keep in the laughter.  She could already tell what was going to happen.  "I'm sticking with Archie."

"Bonemarang."

When the bone went flying through the air, Archie's caninal instincts went into play.  At a galloping leap, he caught the bone between his teeth.  The force of his jaws was so great, it instantly broke in his teeth.  Both master and Marowak were surprised by this.  Marowak was suddenly defenseless.  Lina quickly commanded Arcanine to finish it off.  In one large Flame Wheel, Marowak was knocked unconscious 25 yards from his previous position.

Once again the man returned his pokemon.  This time, he said nothing as he released his next pokemon, Poliwrath.  His opening move was Hypnosis.  Unfortunately for his opponent, Arcanine's nose had been trained to seek out his enemy even while in this state.  Somewhat woozily, Arcanine made his way over to the surprised Poliwrath, and engulfed his whole head in his mouth.  Now arms flailing with distress, the water fighter managed to make Arcanine bite down harder, as a result of his struggle.  With a command from his master, Poliwrath finally succeeded in grabbing Arcanine's neck and throwing him backward.

To his adversary's dismay, Arcanine did _not_ let go.  In fact, he wrapped his arms around Poliwrath like a puppy hugging his chew toy in his sleep, which wasn't all that far from the truth.  As it was inevitable from such a position, Poliwrath soon ceased to struggle, or even move.  Lina clapped her hands twice and called out to Arcanine that she had a treat ready for him.  His ears and eyes immediately opened to the sound, and he cantered off towards Lina, dropping the unconscious, saliva-covered Poliwrath on the spot.  Lina pet him and rewarded him with a strength revitalizing Arcanine biscuit, though he really had no need for it.  Lina was winning 3-0; she was halfway there to winning undefeated with just Arcanine.

Surprisingly, the man still kept his cool composure.  Lina had no doubt that he had an ace up his sleeve.  Lina smirked in remembering that she, too, had a trump card.  But before that, Lina's opponent released a Machamp onto the field.  Once again, Lina stuck with Arcanine.  This time, Lina started first.  "Fireball!"

As if it were expecting it, Machamp held his hands in front of him, and caught the fireball.  With a grunt and a push, he sent it straight back.  Like a batter in a baseball game, Arcanine swung his tail at the last minute and hit the surprised Machamp in the face.  Though charred, Machamp still held his ground.  He charged Arcanine for a Seismic Toss.  Arcanine easily dodged and attacked him with a "Mega Brand".  The attack left Machamp smoking from inside-out.  Shaking his head clear of it, Machamp was ready to try again.

He pounded the material of the ground, making it ripple.  This distracted Arcanine enough to give him the edge he needed to use a Cross Chop.  Unfortunately, Arcanine had been trained to focus quickly, and so escaped with Agility.  Once fairly far behind Machamp, Arcanine made a swift turn of his heel and came galloping back.  As Arcanine was much faster than Machamp, he didn't have enough time to dodge before he found himself on the receiving end of a Flaming Take-Down.  Machamp went sailing through the air, and just as Marowak had before him, landed in an unconscious state.  Lina was 4-0.

Still, he was not worried.  This, in its own way, allowed Lina to doubt herself for a few moments, but she shook it off.  She was going to win this.  She was finally going to beat him fair and square.

"Blastoise.  Go."

A monstrosity of a Pokemon, appeared from the man's pokeball.  By rough estimation, Lina judged that it was about twice as large as her Arcanine.  However, it can't be said that Lina didn't try to bring this new foe down.  "Flame Whip!"  A stream of fire equivalent to that of a thick rope shot out from Arcanine's mouth and proceeded to slither through every possible opening in Blastoise's shell.  Try as it might to extinguish the flames, Blastoise was still enveloped by it.  However, once the smoke cleared, Blastoise did not seem the least bit different.

It attacked Arcanine with a full-blast Hydro Pump attack.  Arcanine dodged the first one, but lost his footing at the near miss, leaving him open for the second attack.  Arcanine received a mouthful of water with a force strong enough to knock him out of the field.  Arcanine was down and out.  Grimacing, Lina returned Arcanine to his pokeball.  "You did well, Archie.  Now who should I choose…?"

As if on cue, Pyro chose that moment to roar, announcing his arrival.  Lina inwardly cheered.  When Pyro landed, she hugged him and asked, "(Welcome back, Pyro!  What do you say to helping me win a battle today?)"

He roared in response, "(I'm ready!)"

Lina nodded and declared, "Well then, my next pokemon is Charizard!"

When Pyro landed on the field, it was made obvious that the man would stay with Blastoise.

Blastoise started with another Hydro Pump.  Charizard flew into the air, narrowly missing the attack.  Blastoise launched several high powered Water Guns at Charizard while it regenerated from the Hydro Pump.  Though the attacks were close in range, Pyro was well accustomed to swerving and dodging, especially in the air.

Lina yelled her command in Pokemon, so her opponent wouldn't understand.  "(Pyro, keep up the dodging.  Wait until it's tired out, and then swerve in for a Flaming Seismic Toss.  Understand?)"

He roared his affirmative as he dodged yet again.  Lina's plan went perfectly as planned.  After about forty or so shots of water attacks, Blastoise was wiped out.  As soon as the array stopped, Pyro swooped in and grabbed Blastoise from behind.  Being a turtle-type, Blastoise was heavy, but not heavy enough for Pyro to worry about.  He used his Flamethrower at the perfect time, and slammed Blastoise into the cape.  The force was so extreme, Lina could have sworn she heard it rip a little.

To Lina's dismay, Blastoise staggered up again, only to be met by Charizard's Fireball.  The Fireball acted like a swift uppercut jab, knocking Blastoise backwards.  Inevitably, he lost his footing and fell.  Persevering, Blastoise stood again.  Getting fed up with this, Lina commanded Pyro to breathe a full on Flamethrower from directly above Blastoise.  Charred from the inside out, this was the last straw for Blastoise; he fainted on the spot.  The man's smirk grew as he returned Blastoise.

"I commend you on a job well done thus far, Lina-chan.  But this is where your luck ends.  I choose you!  Go Articuno!"

Lina gulped.  He caught an _Articuno_?!  Uh oh…

A/N: And so I end this chapter. ^_^ How you like?  Good?  Bad?  Tell me!


	16. Some Extra Badges

Ch. 16 – Some Extra Badges

Can Never Have Too Much of a Good Thing

            "How did you catch an Articuno?!"

            The man laughed.  "Where do you think?  A secret cave in the middle of nowhere.  Let's begin.  Articuno!  Blizzard!"

            The icy legendary pokemon cawed before unleashing its might.  Pyro had no chance to move out of the way before he became a frozen popsicle.  Lina returned him to his pokeball, allowing the warm fire within to warm him back up.

            Growling, Lina knew that her chances of winning suddenly became very slim.  But if she quit now, she wouldn't be who she was today.

            The next few bouts went by very quickly.  Lina chose her Raichu and managed to get a Thunder in before he was frozen with Blizzard.  Next was Sandslash who got within five feet of Articuno with a Slash attack before literally freezing up.  Lina's fifth pokemon was Magmar, who barely missed getting frozen like the others by canceling out the Blizzard with a Fire Blast.  In the smoke, Magmar rushed forward to give Articuno a Fire Punch, but he flew at just the right time, allowing Magmar to scorch the air.  Articuno then grabbed Magmar with his claws, which turned out to be a bad idea, considering that Magmar heats the air around it.  In addition with a scorched set of claws, Magmar added a roasted bottom to it, before he was dropped and swatted away with Articuno's tail.  Surprisingly, Magmar landed on his feet, but was met by the wrath of an angry Articuno.  This, in turn, resulted in a pecked to unconscious Magmar.

            Lina gritted her teeth as she returned Magmar.  Did she really have to choose _that_ pokemon?  Well, it seemed that she no longer had any choice.  She just hoped that it would obey her.  "Dragu!  I choose you!"

            With a monstrous roar, the Dragonite came into the picture, barely fitting over the cape battlefield.

            "Take to the air, Dragu!"

            "You too, Articuno!"

            In the air, it was just as easy to tell the differences of size.  Articuno in comparison was only half the height and a third of the volume of Dragonite.  When Dragu launched a massive Hyper Beam attack, it was no contest.  With Articuno knocked out cold, Lina was the winner.  Lina cheered and thanked Dragu before returning him to his pokeball.  The man returned his Articuno as well, but with a smirk.

            "Now I really _must_ congratulate you Lina-chan.  You have earned my respect as a Pokemon Trainer.  Oh, and since I am the gym leader of the Zephilian Gym, it is only proper that I give you this badge as proof of your victory.  Feel proud that you have won the Track badge from me.  We will meet again, you can be sure of that."  With those parting words, the man disappeared, never to be seen for another decade at least.

            Lina snatched the badge that he tossed to her, but still growled in irritation.  She still hated that man with venom, but there was nothing she could really do about it, short of winning a pokemon battle against him.  Seeing as how Charizard would need more time to recuperate, Lina chose one of her extra pokemon that she was able to keep with her without having it be sent to Prof. Oak.

            As soon as she released a Rapidash in front of her, she climbed on and grabbed the reins.  "Let's go Philippe!  Down the volcano's side!"

            It was a lucky thing for Lina that her Rapidash was not the least bit scared of steep slopes or heights; it allowed her to get to the Riddle Inn very easily.  There, in the lobby, she found her great uncle Blaine being questioned by Zel, Gary, and Gourry.

            "…so you haven't seen Lina at all?" As Blaine shook his head, Gourry slumped his shoulders.  Seeing them like that, Lina couldn't help but play a joke on them.  Knowing her great uncle's style of speaking and writing, she quickly wrote a riddle on the back of one of the Riddle Inn business cards and put it in her mother Pikachu's mouth to deliver.  Her Pikachu waddled with a forlorn look over to the travelers.  Gary was the first to notice, and took the card from its mouth.  He read it out loud to them.

            "You don't know where I am, but you want to know.  I may be your friend, or something else.  I met my match on this island.  Who am I?"

            To which they all instantly answered, "Lina!"  Zel added, "Where is she and who sent this?  It doesn't sound very promising."

            Completely off subject, Gourry suddenly asked, "Hey, I wonder who this Pikachu belongs to."

            "Probably to whoever sent this," Zel answered offhandedly.  He suddenly stopped and did a double take.  Gary said exactly what he was thinking.  "Maybe it can lead us to them!"

            Zel nodded, but Gourry was already attempting to speak Pikachu.

            "Hey, who's your master little guy?"

            A stress mark appeared on her little yellow head and she crossed her little arms and huffed cutely.  She turned her back to him with a short, "(My _mistress_ is Lina-sama)"

            Gourry nodded as if understanding.  "Sorry, whatever I did.  Can you please show us the way?"

            The Pikachu still turned up her nose, while replying, "(If you were really her companions, you would know.  Dimwit.)"

            Not understanding, Gourry sighed and straightened up.  "Looks like we're on our own on this one guys."

            They looked at him as if he were the strangest creature they had ever seen, but in a blink they forgot it.  At the sound of a high-pitched whistle, Pikachu's ears perked straight up.  She then scampered off towards the source.  The boys' eyes followed the little rodent to the beginning of the corridor where it crawled up into someone's arms.

            "Who's there?  Show yourself!" was Zel's instinctive yell.

            Lina laughed as she came into the light, stroking her Pikachu's fur.  "You guys look like you really put your undies in a bunch looking for me.  It's too bad that I found you first; you would have been really surprised by the things I saw."

            A wave of blush penetrated easily within the trio before they rushed towards Lina.  Gary protectively asked, "Where did he take you?"

            Lina laughed it off as she started walking towards Blaine.  "Mt. Magma if you must know.  But don't worry about it; I'm fine.  Hey, GUB!  Long time no see!"

            A stressmark appeared on Blaine's forehead.  "Lina-chan…_Please_ don't call me that."

            Gourry dumbly asked, "What's GUB stand for?"

            Lina grinned happily.  "What else?  Great Uncle Blaine!"

            Blaine added, "It sounds so incredibly similar to 'grub', and therefore disrespectful."

            Gary laughed slightly.  He leaned over the counter and whispered, "Well, she means well Blaine, and it's best to keep her pleased if she's in a good mood, you know?"

            Blaine nodded, somewhat depressed.  He muttered back, "It makes me feel so old, too, you know what I'm saying?"

            Gary nodded, and they both jumped when Lina declared, "Hey, I heard that!"

            They waited for any further reaction, but Lina seemed to just shrug it off and say, "I'm starved!  When do we eat?"

            They sighed in relief and dinner plans were discussed.  Over dinner, Lina didn't say anything about what she had experienced or who she had met.  Afterwards, however, she checked up on her mother, and caught up as much as she could that night.

In the morning, she set out with Zel and Gourry; Gary said that he had to find 'the girls' and he'd be on his way after doing some sight seeing.  Zel suddenly remembered something that Lina had told him before.  As they were strolling down a souvenir filled street, he ventured to ask, "Lina?  Remember what you said when we first met, about how there might be a cure for me on Cinnabar?  Where is it?"

            At this, Lina sweated.  "Oh, um, that?  Well, the place is up ahead, but don't blame me if you don't find what you're looking for."

            Zel immediately became suspicious.  "What do you mean by that?"

            Lina laughed nervously.  "Oh, heh, um, never mind.  Come, follow me."

            The place Lina had previously told Zel about was in fact the present-day workout center, a.k.a. it was no longer the renowned Pokemon Lab it once was.  As soon as Zel discovered this, he immediately glowed with glaring red irritation.  Uneasily, Lina asked, "Um…Zel?  You okay?"

            All he said was, "I guess this is where we part again."

            His abruptness caught Lina off guard, but she accepted it.  She rubbed the back of her head as she commented, "Heh, sorry I couldn't help; I forgot that this whole island became a tourist resort since the last time I've been here.  Will I see you at the Pokemon League Finals at least?"

            Zel huffed as he turned.  "We'll see.  Farewell."

            With that, he stalked out of sight.  In a matter of hours, their four person group had decimated to just two – Lina and Gourry.  Lina sighed as they walked around, looking at the souvenirs.

It was almost noon before Lina remembered that she still hadn't gotten her Cinnabar Island badge yet.  She told Gourry to hurry up and follow her back to the Riddle Inn.  There, she confronted her great uncle and asked for a gym battle.  Blaine agreed, saying that he would like to see how much she had improved.  Unfortunately, since his official battle field had been destroyed by some pesky visitors just yesterday, Blaine asked that they have the battle above the volcano.  Lina grimaced at the memory of her last battle there, but agreed.

Blaine agreed to a one-on-one battle, so it was very easy to choose- Her strongest Pokemon.  When Blaine chose Magmar, Lina chose her Charizard.  That battle commenced.  First, Lina attacked with Flamethrower, which Magmar countered with his own.  Pyro put more heat into it, and overpowered Magmar.  The attack knocked him down but he was up again.  Magmar went on the offensive and attacked with Fire Blast.  Pyro sent the attack right back with a series of swift wing gusts.  This caught Magmar off guard, but he simply took it, absorbing it back into his body.

When Pyro headed toward Magmar for a Seismic Toss, Magmar sent him flying back with a Fire Punch.  Suddenly getting an idea, Pyro used a Flamethrower and his wings to make a Flaming Tornado.  Surprised, Magmar was taken into its flow, allowing him to become feverishly dizzy.  As the flames dissipated, Magmar slowly floated down from where the top of the tornado had been.  Pyro instantly flew to catch him, and then went for a Seismic Toss.  As soon as Magmar hit the small bit of ground that accounted for the battlefield, Pyro was back in the air, and went straight down for a finishing spiral slash attack.  The end result: Lina and Pyro were the winners.

Blaine congratulated Lina and handed her her new Volcano badge.  As Lina cheered, Gourry congratulated her as well.  She replied that a lot of the credit went to Pyro to being such a good pupil and pokemon.  She gave Pyro a treat before addressing Blaine again.  She would be traveling to Viridian City to get her next badge.  Blaine agreed, but asked that she visit more frequently then once every seven years.  Lina laughed and said she would.  With that, she boarded Pyro with Gourry behind her, and waved goodbye as they soared through the air.

They made quick time back to the mainland, where they chowed down on seafood before going on their way again.  That was when Xellos started following them.  Lina didn't seem to mind, so Gourry didn't either.  After all, "the more the merrier."  In Viridian, she met someone she had never expected to meet again – Vrumagan and Zangulus.  Since their boss, the real gym leader, was out, they were in charge.  In a matter of minutes, she and Pyro made mincemeat out of them.  Getting the Earth Badge was like taking candy from a baby.

Afterwards, Lina counted up her badges, which added up to eleven.  She called Professor Oak and asked when the deadline to turn in badges for the tournament was.  His answer: barely three months from now.  Lina thanked him and looked in her Pokedex for any gyms that she had missed.  There was the newly built gym in Dark City for the Shadow badge.  As well as a small one in Stone Town for the Evolution Badge, Neon City for the Light Badge, Hollywood for the Movie Badge, and last but not least, the Wave badge from Surf City (I know I got it out of order from how Ash traveled through the cities, but it doesn't matter).  Lina certainly didn't need extra badges, but as her sister always said, "It's better to be safe than sorry."

So Lina went on a second quest for badges to fulfill her second set.  She toasted the two pokemon team of Scyther and Electabuzz in Dark City with her Charizard.  In Stone Town, she beat Flareon, Jolteon, and Vaporeon with her Wigglytuff, who after making them all fall asleep, slapped them silly.  Her battle in Neon City was easily won when their two Magnetons and Pikachu went against Lina's Sandslash.  Hollywood's Meowth and Persian were no match for Arcanine, regardless of animal-based types.  The wave badge was slightly harder than the rest, since it was a Gyarados and a Slowpoke against Lina's Victreebel, but she still won.  After the long ordeal of furious traveling and gym battling, Lina breathed a sigh of relief.  She had won five badges in a matter of two weeks.

            While relaxing on the beach of Seafoam Island, Lina decided to see if there was anything else that was worth doing.  Lina found that in one town, there was an institute that tested you for a Pokemon badge worth 8 regular gym badges which would automatically give you access to the pokemon league.  They were now giving a test for last minute entrants.  Lina grinned to herself and decided to take the test.  Xellos took it with her, and Lina's first place was just before Xellos'.  They both received the badge, but Lina asked Xellos if he really planned on competing in the tournament.  He said 'no' before he could think about it, and Lina instantly commanded him to sell it to him for 50 PD.  Xellos huffed that he worked hard for this badge, but offhandedly suggested that he might consider it for 5,000 PD, and Lina called it a deal.  This surprised Xellos so much that he looked at Lina incredulously.  She took out one of her saved pokemon and held it out.  With it she told him that this Rapidash could win any race put up to it with the right rider, and so could easily make 5,000 PD or more in its lifetime, not to mention it could be sold for much more than 5,000 PD.  Lina usually didn't give away her pokemon, especially fire pokemon, but it was for an important cause that would be later revealed.  Besides, she had two of them reserved for her in Zephilia and a family of three in Pallet Town; she had all she needed.  Xellos sighed and agreed.  He handed his badge over for the Pokeball.

            Appeased at last, Lina made her return trip home, no longer needing to train excluding the basic keeping her pokemon in shape.  She had an unbeatable team, and no one was going to show her up at the League.  After all, why should they?  She had acquired 16 badges out of the 8 required, as well as two "Master" badges.  Just as she had guessed, her return home was anything but laid back.


	17. Home Sw Erm Home

Home Sw- Erm… Home

Whoever said "Home" was "Sweet" had

Never been to the Inverse house.

            For the first time since she had begun her trip with Gourry, Lina was positively _glowing_ about the prospect that he had promised to be her bodyguard.  When Gourry verified that she was going home, he asked what she would need a bodyguard for there.  Lina laughed it off, saying that he would see soon enough.  To bide time before the inevitable encounter, Lina planned to have lunch at a nearby restaurant.  She stopped dead in her tracks as soon as she opened the door.  When Gourry asked what was wrong, Lina only said, "She's here.  I can sense it."  As she looked around tentatively, she added, "Gourry, what restaurant is this?"

            He answered in a somewhat surprised fashion.  "Huh?  This is the Star Li Restaurant.  I heard it had the best lobster in all of Kanto.  Wait, you live here don't you?  Haven't you ever been here?"

            As Gourry nudged her into the restaurant waiting area to make room for new customers behind them, Lina replied, dazed, "No, we never had enough money to go here after we moved here."

            Slowly he asked, "…Do you have enough _now_?"

            Lina shrugged.  "Not really, but I think I can probably convince whoever gives us the check to lower the price, if I really wanted to."

            "Then let's go get a table."

            "I don't know…I'm not prepared to meet my sister again yet."

            "You were going to go home sooner or later right?"

            "I'd rather choose later."

            "If you happen to see her, it's better to get it over sooner, where there's a lot of people, right?"

            Lina mulled over this, and smiled softly.  "I suppose you're right.  Okay, let's go."

            They were given a table in the back dining area, by the window.  As they were looking over their menus, their waitress came, chilling them to the very bone.  Lina recognized the voice, but didn't want to say.  Gourry had felt the same cold chill, but managed to make his order of two lobsters and seven different "side dishes" which were really meant to be main meals.  The waitress said nothing as she took down his order.

            She turned to Lina, "And you Miss…" she stopped in mid-sentence as she tried to get a better look at the other person, who was trying to hide behind the menu.

            Lina quickly ordered in a squeaky voice, "I'm not feeling very hungry – I'll just have a baked Salmon."

            As she wrote this down, the waitress studied what she could of the mysteriously familiar customer.  Bright red hair, black cape and boots, that frightened, squeaky voice…  And she immediately locked in on the verdict.  "Lina?  Is that you?"

            By the way the person immediately froze up, she guessed it was.  The waitress laughed and patted Lina's head lightly as she took their menus with the other.  As she strolled away, she said quietly, "I'll ask for a little time off, imouto-chan.  Your order will be arriving shortly."

            After she had taken someone else's order and had gone into the kitchen, Lina finally let out a deep breath she knew she had been holding.  From what had happened, Gourry slowly discovered, "Lina…was that your sister?"

            Lina could only nod.  Gourry seemed amazed, but Lina only heard it in his voice, since she was looking solemnly at the white table mat, as if the end of her life was coming.

            "She looks nothing like you."

            The waitress that had served them was a tall young adult with neatly cut purple hair that came to just above her shoulders.  Her bangs covered her eyes, hiding just about as much of her expression as her purple waitress outfit with the white over-apron hid her curvaceous figure.  She held herself with poise usually seen only in movies of royalty, which was combined with her nonchalant accent and honey-like smile.

To which Lina replied in a deadpan voice, "Our parents look just as different, so we have different genes.  Besides, she's six years older than me."

            Gourry thought this over (what was there to think about?  How should I know?) before asking, "She doesn't seem so bad."

            Lina glared at him with deadened eyes.  All she said was, "Just wait.  It's always calm before the storm."

            In a rare moment of intellect, Gourry asked, "Isn't it supposed to be calm _after_ the storm?"

            "If I say before, I mean _before_.  Afterwards come repercussions."

            Gourry laughed nervously.  Lina's gloomy foretelling was anything but enlightening.  Only a few minutes later, their order came.  Before that, Lina asked that Gourry come over to her side, for protection's sake.  When Gourry looked slightly dubious of anything that Lina's sister might do, Lina reminded him of his promise.  He consented; Lina slid down to the window side with Gourry next to her, separating her from the aisle.

            When Lina's sister came with four plates balanced on her arms, Gourry instinctively helped her put it on the table.  She thanked him before surveying the seating arrangement.  She sighed and said that she would return with four more of their plates – the rest would come after the table was cleared.  After she left again, Gourry asked what her name was.  Lina took a deep breath and recited, "Luna Marie Elizabeth Hachimenreirou Nakai Itoku Naraku Inverse.  But just call her Luna-san."

            Gourry sweated, already forgetting the long name.  "Okay, if you say so Lina."

            Half to himself he added, "I'd hate to ask what your full name is…"

            Still dazed, Lina recited hers as well, while Gourry gulped down massive amounts of food.  "My full name is Lina Lesliana Lewella Okibi Shoukyaku Reichou Inverse."

            Gourry almost choked when he heard it.  He sweated as he requested, "Lina," he gulped down his food, "Could you not do that when I'm eating?"

            Lina had a faraway look in her eyes as she murmured, "I only answered your question; you're the one who started eating before I answered it."

            Gourry sighed and started scarfing down food again.  Lina didn't say another word until he finished, which was past the time that Luna came back with four more dishes; she was not surprised that Gourry had already finished all four plates (considering she grew up with Lina).  She asked if they would like any drinks.  Gourry said that he'd take a jug of milk, while Lina said she'd just have water.  While saying this, Gourry finished of another plate.  Luna took the almost polished five plates and left, due to return soon.  Lina sat in silence, polishing her badges mindlessly under the table.  With the last few plates, Luna had their drinks on a tray in one hand and two plates on the other.

            She sat down across from them and watched somewhat wearily.  Lina took one sip from her water and a small bite of her Salmon, and she was done.  Gourry was eating as if there were no tomorrow, but started eating much slower and more politely once Lina "tapped" his shin and glared at him.

            Luna sighed.  She began to question Lina, lightly at first.  "So how have you been, little sis?  You catch a lot of Pokemon?"

            Lina solemnly nodded.  "Yes, onee-san."

            Luna raised an eyebrow.  "_Really_?  How many, exactly?"

            Lina looked down and checked her Statidex underneath the table.  She answered,"178…378."

            Luna seemed a bit surprised.  "Three-hundred seventy-eight you say?  My, you've been _busy_ without your big sis, haven't you?  And how many badges?"

            Taking another deep breath, Lina recited, "18.  The Boulder, Cascade, Thunder, Marsh, Ghost, Rainbow, Soot, Soul, Track, Volcano, Earth, Shadow, Evolution, Light, Movie, and Wave Badge.  Then I have two Master Badges that I received after I passed a really hard test about Pokemon.  The second one I got with my marketing skills."

            Lina's two companions looked at her with surprise.  It was a bit unrealistic for someone like Lina to be boasting in a deadpan voice.  Luna recognized this for what it was and commented on it.  "What's wrong Lina?  You look like you just had a terrible ordeal.  It wasn't _that_ hard, was it?"  When Lina didn't reply, she sighed.  As swift as a driver switching gears, Luna turned to Gourry.  "I don't believe we've met.  I'm Lina's older sister, Luna Inverse.  And you?"

            Gourry immediately chirruped, "Um, Gourry Gabriev.  I'm a substitute Gym Leader at Cerulean 'cuz my sisters are the official Gym Leaders.  I'm Lina's bodyguard."

            Once again, Luna seemed very interested.  "_Bodyguard_?  And, pray tell, why would _Lina_ need a 'bodyguard' for?"

            Before Lina could stop him, Gourry started talking about how she was taken by this guy while they were on a boat and how they looked all over the island for her but then she ended up finding them…at which point Lina kicked him.  This, in the end, only proved to make matters worse, because now Luna wanted _Lina_ to tell her.  Lina took another sip and bite before reluctantly telling about everything that had happened with that encounter.  As soon as she finished, she held her breath, waiting for her sister's reaction.

            Luna leaned back and stroke her chin thoughtfully.  Softly, she remarked, "So _that's_ what happened…interesting.  Lina, go on home.  Here's the key.  Take your _friend_ with you too.  I'll meet you there after my shift is over.  I'll pay for your lunch.  We'll talk more there."

            Lina nodded as Luna stood up, inclined her head in a farewell gesture, and went around, making sure that the other tables had been served.  Lina breathed a sigh of relief and quickly finished off the rest of her lunch.  She then nudged Gourry and told him to get out so that they could go.  After Gourry stood up, Lina started for the door, just as listless as she had been throughout the whole meal.  Rather hurriedly, Gourry put 40 PD on the table to cover most of his bill and the tip, before following Lina.

            Lina led Gourry across town to a modest two-story house next to a tree-lined street.  She put the key into the lock, and slowly turned it.  Her demeanor was really making Gourry suspicious by this time.  After all, she looked as pale and lost as a ghost of a child.  Lina took off her boots next to the door and Gourry followed suit.  Lina closed the door behind him and there was a long pause of silence.

            Suddenly, Lina yawned and murmured, "Hey Gourry, I'm going to take a little nap in my room, okay?  You can look around the house, just don't touch anything in my sister's room – it's clearly labeled as hers, plus it's the one with all the purple bed sheets and wallpaper.  'k?  Good night."  Lina yawned again and trudged up.  Gourry shrugged and started to look around.

            The front room was the typical parlor room.  A pair of beige leather couches faced each other in the middle of the room, with a glass coffee table sitting in between them.  In the corner beside the stairwell was a tall antique lamp, which would give off light if the large window adjacent to the door did not suffice.  A large tropical jungle bouquet with red flowers among green leaves, sat in the corner right of the window, confined within a black scalloped vase.  On the other side of the window, next to the door, stood an equally tall Poipu bouquet filled with lavender petals contained by a white bud vase.  Besides those few things, however, the room was absolutely void of imperfections, though some would say that the sparse furniture was just as perfect and orderly as the cleanliness of it all.  Shaking his head, Gourry followed the tan carpet through the hallway at the bottom of the stairs.

In the short hallway, he passed by a closed closet door that had a sign saying, "KEEP OUT – IF YOU WANT TO STAY ALIVE!"  Gourry shuddered and moved on, having every intention of living his life to the fullest.

            The next room appeared to be a large family room in which to entertain the kids while the adults conversed elsewhere.  Gourry's first hints of this were the assorted Pokemon plushies that lined two of the walls, three layers thick.  There was also a small TV diagonally placed in the corner between the hallway-wall and the brick fireplace.  Below it on the shelf of the small entertainment center was a VCR.  Below _that_, practically resting on the ground, was a small stereo system.  A red bean bag chair rested a few feet from the TV and a blue bean bag chair.  Behind them was a soft, plump sofa with a Cheltam Cabernet flowery design.  A basic lamp hung from the center of the room, and thus completing the homely, but still remarkably neat room.

            Turning the corner, Gourry found himself facing a large Walnut(wood) dining table with six chairs – two on both lengths, and one on each end – that had a polished, refined look about it.  An overflowing bouquet of forget-me-nots and other seasonal flowers had been placed in the center of the table in a short glass vase.  The hardwood beech floor that connected the dining room and kitchen was so well polished that Gourry swore he could see his reflection in it.  A transparent sliding door on the other side of the dining table led to what could only be the back yard, but Gourry left that to later.

            The kitchen was amazingly well organized from Gourry's point of view.  On his left, was a trash dispenser and dishwasher boxed in by white cabinets – four across the top, two on either side of the pair.  In the corner, "right" of this wing, was a stainless steel sink that stood as a barrier, protecting a small bouquet of white and purple orchids that was currently being showered with rays of sun from the two windows the formed that corner of the house.  On the other side of the sink, more in front of Gourry, was a stainless steel stove, just below a similarly silver microwave.  They divided the four cabinets on the top and bottom evenly into pairs (two on either side of both appliances).  Then, to the right, there are two cabinet pairs, one on top, one on bottom, next to a large stainless steel refrigerator.  Having just eaten, Gourry passed by that and looked into an adjoining hallway, much shorter in comparison.

On his left was a door left ajar.  He poked his head in and looked around; it was a guest bedroom by the looks of it.  A neatly made bed with plain blue sheets was in the corner, below a flower-curtained window.  An antique dresser was at the foot of the bed, facing the wooden bed frame.  In the corner adjacent to the top of the bed and the door was a corner desk, with a mirror hanging on the wall above it.  A trash can beside the desk, and a floral lamp on the same edge of the desk, completed the room.

On the other side of the hallway was a small bathroom.  The sink was a part of the cabinet to the left, while the toilet was blocking part of the passage to the shower area.  A white hamper stood in front of the toilet, further narrowing the space to the shower.  At the end of the hallway was another door, which led to the laundry room, complete with a washing machine and a dryer.  Above them was a pair of double door cabinets.  At the other end of the small laundry room was another door.

Inside this door was a slate gray wall filled with workout equipment.  In one corner was a treadmill, while another had a bench press.  The corner flanking the treadmill was home to a large red punching bag.  Separating the two said objects was a pair of bicycles – a blue mountain bike and a smaller red kid's bike – hanging on the wall.  On the opposite side of the room were three vertical layers of shelves that gave way to a wooden workbench.  The middle of the room had a large patch of blue tumbling mats that stretched from one machine corner to another.

Gourry backed out and retraced his steps, and stopped at the foot of the stairs near the parlor.  He had explored the whole of the first floor, and his basic impression was that it was very well kept and flowers were placed wherever they seemed appropriate.  With a misplaced sigh, he climbed up the stairwell that was split in half – it went eight steps left, then turned right and went eight steps the other way.  The first room he came to was a library.  As the walls were lined top to bottom with bookshelves that contained probably a total of three hundred neatly arranged books, Gourry had no interest in this room.  He saw a red sofa adjacent to the door with a lamp on an end table beside it, before he passed by it.

A little bit farther along was a set of double doors, but it was locked.  Since a sign reading "Luna's room – Do Not Enter" hung from the doorknobs, Gourry guessed that this room was off-limits, and so he moved on.  Again, there was a whole row of cabinets before another bathroom came into view.  This one was slightly bigger, as it had mirrors on both walls, above two separate sinks.  Then there was the toilet, followed by a bath/shower.  A small ventilation window was situated near the ceiling on the far side of the bathroom.

Past the bathroom was one more room before the circular corridor connected the last door with the stairs by a long work desk with a computer.  Inside the last room, slightly opened, was Lina's room.  Compared to the rest of the house, it was positively cluttered with things, but it still had a sense of cleanliness (see first chapter for description; I don't care to repeat it).  He looked over to the bed and found Lina slumbering away the time.  Instinctively, he lightly picked her up and put her under the covers, before leaving her to her sleep.  Just as he was heading down the stairs, he heard the front door open, before he saw Luna coming through the door.  Surprised, Gourry remarked, "That was quick."

Luna blinked up at him before responding wearily, "What are you talking about?  It's been almost five hours since you two left.  Speaking of which, where is dear, little Lina?"

Not noticing the hint of malicious intentions in her poisoned honey voice, Gourry answered that Lina was sleeping in her room.  Luna nodded, and sighed.  By this time, Gourry had made it to the foot of the stairs.  She greeted him formally as a host would an acquaintance/guest.  She gestured towards the whole of the house as she asked, "So, how do you like my decorating skills?"

Gourry blinked.  Quite honestly in his opinion, he answered, "You decorated it yourself?  Wow.  It looks really nice and presentable.  I like the kid's area."

Luna laughed at that, mechanically taking her shoes off before gesturing Gourry towards said place.  "You don't say?  Well, feel free to hang out there if you like.  We don't have any other guests today, so you two will rein my full attention.  Do you have a preference for dinner?"

Gourry shrugged.  As his grandmother had instilled chivalrous kindness in him, he said what came natural, "Anything's fine.  I'm sure you're a great cook."

Luna laughed again and thanked him.  She asked how long he planned to stay, and he responded as long as Lina was staying.  Luna accepted this, and said that since she was tired and she wanted to properly welcome Lina home, she was going to order pizza, but she would cook the next night.  Gourry agreed, and asked if Luna had anything specially planned for Lina.  Luna's laugh rang through the room once again, but she said nothing as she left Gourry to "wake up her dear little sister."

Gourry was calmly sipping tea that Luna had set out for him, when he heard an ear-piercing scream from upstairs that was suddenly cut off by something.  Luna had told him to stay downstairs no matter what he heard, but it was hard on his conscious.  The house itself shook as Gourry's sharp ears heard something being dragged on the carpet.  A doorknob turned, and a door softly closed a few moments later.  More struggling was heard; then Gourry could have sworn that he heard water running and another muffled shout.  It took every fiber of his being for Gourry to stay put, but the stories Lina had "hinted" at about Luna were more than enough incentive to stay where he was.  After about an hour or so, Gourry heard a blow dryer at work before Lina came trudging down the steps.  As soon as Lina came into view, the shower could be heard overhead.

Gourry looked over to her and saw that she was wearing black pants and a small "graphic tee" that had a picture of Lina riding a Ponyta when she was young.  Lina was drying her hair out with a pink towel; she stopped as soon as she saw Gourry sitting there.  A light blush spread over her cheeks as she covered the picture and tentatively asked, "You're still here?"

The boy shrugged.  "Don't really have anywhere else to go, Lina."

Lina's back was turned to him while she took out some orange juice from the fridge.  "So…um…you heard?  Upstairs, I mean?"

Gourry nodded as he responded, "Yeah."  Lina's blush deepened a little bit, but Gourry went on obliviously, "It sounded like a big struggle.  What were you doing?"

Lina poured herself a cup, returned the juice carton to the fridge, and joined Gourry at the table.  After taking a big gulp, Lina sighed and seemed to go slightly off topic.  "Hey, Gourry, do you have any pets?"

Playing along, Gourry thought about it before answering, "Umm…I don't think so, unless you count my pokemon that I take with me everywhere."

"Do you," Lina paused to take another gulp, "Do you wash them yourself?"

Gourry shrugged.  "Of course."

"Imagine that.  That's what Luna did to me up there."

His mind whirled slowly, trying to connect the pieces…"She turned you into a Pokemon?"

Lina's head slammed into the dining table as she facefaulted.  "No, dummy!  She – she…_bathed_ me like you would your pet Growlithe."

"I don't have a Growlithe."

"You don't?  Lucky.  I love mine, but, it's a horrible example for my sister to use to torture me."

"Your sister tortures you?"

"You wouldn't call what I just told you about 'torture'?"

"…What were you talking about again?"

"Ugh…Never mind – forget it."

"Okay, if you say so Lina."

A long pause filled with the sounds of drinking invited itself to spare either wasted breath.  Finally, Lina asked what Luna had told him, to which Gourry replied that he had forgotten.  Lina sighed again, and waited for her sister to actually come down the stairs from her own shower.

Upon her descent, Luna ordered an ultra combo pizza from the nearest Poke Papa Mon.  While waiting, Luna asked that Lina bring down all of her badges and show them to her, in fact, bring down her whole cape.  Lina consented, going up and down the stairs in record timing.  Luna first looked at the eighteen badges, nodding as she inspected each one like a jeweler would a possible prospect.  Before going on to check through her cape, Luna remarked that though legitimate, Lina's badges were in poor shape - in need of heavy polishing.  At Luna's command, she went to retrieve a bucket of polish and a polishing rag in which to start cleansing her badges.

Meanwhile, Luna found Lina's bottle of "Gloomy Violet".  Luna smirked as she held it in her hand.  She locked eyes with her sister and smirked, saying that she had received her present, and she thanked her little sister for remembering.  Lina grinned back and continued to polish, but noticeably happier.  Luna set the bottle down next to the flowers and went on to find Lina's money pouch.  Emptying the contents out onto the table, she counted Lina's money.  She told them with a hint of surprise that there was a total of 50 PD.  When Gourry asked what was wrong with that, Luna glared at Lina as she told him that she had given Lina 2000 to last her the trip.  Lina laughed slightly and commented, "A girl's gotta eat, right?"

Luna sighed and shook her head, hopeless for her little sister.  She continued her rummaging and found her extra store of pokemon.  Luna raised an eyebrow and asked what these pokeballs were for.  Lina explained that she wanted to keep more than six pokemon for things other than battling, so she coated those pokeballs with anti-transfer wax.  To show that she had good reason for doing so, she added that she had already sent more than enough pokemon to Prof. Oak, so she kept a few more to lift a little of the burden off of him.  From the way Luna let out a disgruntled sigh, it was obvious that Luna did not completely believe Lina, but accepted the answer for the time being.  Thankfully, it was at that time that the pizza arrived.

They all took a break to eat, with Luna making sure that they all washed their hands hard with hot water and soap.  Gourry felt as if the water _burned _off all of his dirty skin, and Luna only commented, "Good."  The trio ate in relative silence, and washed their hands again afterwards.  Luna asked if Gourry wanted to take a shower or bath before going to sleep; he answered that he'd like to, but his change of clothes were dirty.  Luna told him to follow her to the guest room, where she found some comfortable blue pajamas that just _happened_ to be his size.  Gourry thanked her, and she told him to use the downstairs shower, the one directly across from that room.  Once the door closed, Luna went back to Lina, and had a _long_ talk about their schedule for the remainder of time before the tournament began.  Gourry went to sleep that night happy, but Lina's was plagued by nightmares of things to come, in the comfort of her own town.

A/N:  *Sigh* I think I can finish this story with the next chapter!  Yay!  Review as you will!


	18. The Final Tournament

Ch.18 – The Final Tournament

Get Ready League, Here Comes Pokemaster Lina!

            Lina's schedule was all in all much regulated.  She was woken up at five thirty in the morning by Luna to work out in their private gym.  Her routine started with half an hour on the treadmill going 20 mph, followed by 500 punches/kicks to the punching bag.  Afterwards came bench pressing 80 pounds fifteen times.  To finish it, Lina was forced to do fifty push-ups on her fingertips and fifty full sit-ups.  Then, after breakfast, she would go over to Prof. Oak's lab to help feed the pokemon.  By the time she was finished, it was time for lunch, which she made and ate at home.  Once the lunch dishes were washed, Lina would go to Luna's workplace to help wash dishes there.  Upon coming home with Luna, Lina was to train with her Pokemon until dinner was prepared.  After dinner, she would take a bath and then go straight to sleep.

            Gourry was free to do whatever he pleased, but he ended up following Lina around, doing what she did, until Luna felt that he was close enough to the family to help out.  She sent him off to buy groceries, fish every other day, and run random errands.  He ate most meals with Lina, and also took a bath after dinner (separately of course).  As for Luna, she supervised Lina's workout to make sure she didn't cheat, until she set off to work.  After returning, she would cook a marvelous but small dinner before taking a shower herself.  In case you didn't figure it out, they all had a bathroom to themselves.

            Needless to say, when the tournament finally rolled around, Lina was more than just ready; she was ready to _win_.  The day before she was due to leave, Luna allowed Lina to take the whole day off.  Half of that day was taken to sleep in, then eat ravenously.  After stretching her sore muscles, Lina went with Gourry to visit all of her old friends, first and foremost her brother.  They chatted for a little while before going to Prof. Oak's to feed the late Pokemon lunch.  As she monitored the Fire Pokemon area, she noted that Grithe was no longer there.  Sighing, she remarked to the newborn Growlithe on her lap that she would have liked to see if he had improved.  Lina and Gourry stayed there until sunset, when they headed home.  Lina packed her cape again before dinner.  After the post-meal bath, Lina slept fitfully as did Luna and Gourry.

            The next morning, she set out bright and early with her pokemon to the Indigo Plateau.  Gourry accompanied her upon Pyro's back as they flew across the land.  They reached their destination three days ahead of the regular rush using this method.  Lina immediately checked into the Pokemon Center and called home to tell Luna she had arrived safely, as promised.  Gourry followed her to the registration desk the next day, where she showed her first Master badge along with her Pokedex as her credentials.  After she pushed the deciding button, Lina learned that her first battle would be with Vrumagan on the Ice field.  She groaned at the memory, but it made her confident that she would win easily.

            The day of her first match, Lina was in a lets-get-it-over-with kind of mood.  She did her morning stretches, ate her breakfast quickly, checked on her pokemon, and then left at the appropriate time for her match.  The crowd politely cheered as both trainers were introduced, most not knowing either of them, but still eager to see a good battle.  Lina glanced at the crowd, and shrugged, deciding to put on a show for them.  For this goal, she chose a team of fire Pokemon, as that was her specialty.  Vrumagan chose to start with Dewgong, who could slide along the surface of the ice as fluently as in the water.

As soon as the referee allowed them to begin, Vrumagan had Dewgong use Ice Beam.  Speaking in the language of Charizards, Lina told him to yawn in a way that breathed a Flamethrower towards the beam.  A few scattered ooh's and aah's spread throughout the crowd as the flames completely melted the attack and scorched the sender (Dewgong).  Meanwhile the announcer commented on Lina's use of 'words'.

"It seems that this talented young lady can control her Charizard's movements just by repeating its name!  Remarkable!"  When the attack left Dewgong charred, he added, "Ooh, that _had_ to hurt.  What's this?  The referee has declared Dewgong unable to battle!  Charizard wins with a T.K.O.!  Unbelievable!"

Lina chuckled slightly to herself as she stroked her cheek a little.  She thought to herself, "I guess that was a bit of an overkill.  Hehe, whoops."  She called out to Pyro, "(Pyro!  Let's give these guys a show!  Tone it down a bit.  Not enough to get hurt badly, just to get the crowd going.)"

Pyro nodded in consent as Vrumagan chose his second Pokemon, Jynx.  The announcer once again commented, "It's a bit hard to hear, but it seems to me that another little conversation went on between Lina and her Charizard.  I wonder what they could be talking about.  Well, time to get the next bout underway!  Vrumagan chooses Jynx while Lina sticks with her Charizard!"  At Lina's perfected Flaming Tornado, he added, "Well there's something you don't see every day- a moving column of fire!  I don't think Jynx can dodge it- no, it was enveloped by the pillar.  Can it stay up?  …It doesn't look like it – Yes, the referee has deemed Jynx unable to battle.  That's two TKO's for Charizard!"  At this, the crowd erupts in cheers; Lina smiles wanly – instead of turning it down, she ended up turning _up_ the power.  Ah wells, the crowd still seemed to like it.

Vrumagan's last pokemon was a Cloyster.  Lina grinned evilly as she relayed her instructions to Pyro.  He roared his affirmative and charged.

"Now it's Cloyster vs. Charizard!  Charizard is rushing in for a…judo body slam?!"  The crowd gasped in surprise as Charizard powered his Rage attack (tail fire increases dramatically) grabbed Cloyster and bent his back so that he slammed him into the ground behind him.  This inevitably allowed Cloyster to be barbequed by Charizard's life flame, at the tip of his tail.  Charizard then turned and gave him a point-blank Flamethrower.  Cloyster was declared unable to battle.  Charizard had won Lina her first match with a three-in-a-row T.K.O.  The crowd erupted in loud screams of applause and cheers for their new favorite trainer.  Lina grinned and did a modest Peace sign.  She returned Pyro to his pokeball, and blew the stadium a kiss before exiting.  The announcer ended with, "Well, that was one quick but great battle!  Lina Inverse wins by a landslide!  We will be taking a short intermission before the next ice battle goes underway."

Lina clicked her tongue with slight annoyance.  That had been way too easy.  With her sister's training behind her, would she have _any_ competition at all here?  Having been seated in the sidelines watching, Gourry now commended Lina on winning her first match so easily.  Smirking, Lina flipped her hair behind her shoulder and responded that it was a "piece of cake". To which Gourry looked left and right trying to find an actual "piece of cake".  Lina laughed and suggested that they go have a mid morning victory snack.  Gourry seconded this notion.  Back at the field, Vrumagan slowly returned his Cloyster and stalked out silently.

Lina's next battle was on the grass field.  She knew that Pyro could easily command this field, but decided to choose Archie for a slight change of face.  Her opponent was a girl, by the name of Martina Zoana Mel Navratilova.  Her first pokemon was Slowbro.  She started the match by using a powerful Water Gun, which Lina responded to by having Growlithe back up, go on his hind quarters, and drink the spray of water.  Afterwards, he licked his lips to enhance the effect.  A light laugh spread throughout the stadium.  Embarrassed, Martina attacked with Confusion, but her Slowbro ended up getting a touch of Amnesia.  Archie took this chance to use a Fireball.  As it circled around, Slowbro was caught off guard as it connected with its back.  It would take more than that to take out this Slowbro, but Lina wasn't finished yet.  Archie attacked with Flare Arrow, followed by a Mega Brand channeled through the ground.  Toasted, Slowbro teetered, and fell over, blowing out one last puff of smoke.

Martina's next choice was Tentacruel which may not have been the best choice considering the field, but it was well able to move around.  Tentacruel started things off with a Hydro Pump.  At just the right moment, Lina barked an order and Archie ran towards Tentacruel along the stream of water.  At point-blank, he used a devastating Fire Blast attack.  Tentacruel was barely able to stand after that.  Archie put some distance in between them before turning and using Agility and then Take Down.  Archie won this match.

Her final pokemon was Marowak.  Lina grinned.  She told Archie to do what he had done the last time they had faced a Marowak – Follow your canine instincts.  Archie crouched down low and wagged his tail in anticipation.  Martina didn't seem to realize the major fault in her choice, however, so she had Marowak use Bonemarang.  Archie ran, jumped, and caught it in his teeth.  Upon landing, he ran to a corner, dug a hole, placed the bone inside, and covered it up before happily returning to battle.  Marowak sweated, and the crowd cheered.  Defenseless now, Marowak could do nothing to stop Arcanine from roasting him with Flame Wheel.  The battle had ended; Lina was once again the winner with a one pokemon T.K.O. three times in a row.  Again, Lina repeated her end battle peace sign, blown kiss, return pokemon and turn to leave.  And once again, the crowd erupted in cheers.

Lina's third match was on the water field battling Gravos, an extremely bizarre man in Lina's opinion.  Gravos' first pokemon was Poliwrath.  To show that she didn't only have fire pokemon, Lina chose Gyarados.  The battle commenced, with Poliwrath using Double Slap.  Gyarados returned the favor with his tail which smacked Poliwrath straight into the wall, allowing him to slither into the water.  Gyarados finished him with a Hyper Beam, and that was the end of Poliwrath for the time being.

Gravos' next pokemon was a Machoke.  Gyarados bit him down on his head, shook his head vigorously with Machoke still in his jaws, threw him up sky high, and then finishing him with a Hydro Pump.  The second bout was over quickly.

His final pokemon was Primeape.  Lina didn't give him the time of day, having Gyarados simply finish him with a well placed Dragon Rage, which was a spectacular sight all its own.  Lina was once again declared the winner with three one-pokemon TKO's.

Lina's final match of the preliminaries was on the ground battlefield with Halciform.  Halciform chose Dugtrio as his first pokemon.  Lina decided to go with her Sandslash.  Dugtrio's first move was Dig.  Lina commanded Sandslash to follow Dugtrio through the same hole.  A lot of digging went on, a few pokemon squabbles were heard, before both broke the surface with a scratched up Sandslash carrying a fainted Dugtrio on its back.

Halciform's next pokemon was Golem; Lina stuck with Sandslash.  Golem used Magnitude, but Sandslash jumped high into the air, avoiding all damage in the process.  He used a Dust Tornado upon his return, enveloping Golem in it completely.  As it dissipated, Golem spun around a few times, still going with the flow of it.  After regaining his senses, Golem used Earthquake, for which Sandslash once again jumped away from danger.  This time, he used Fissure as he hit the ground; Golem was caught in the middle.  Sandslash then scampered towards him and used a Slash attack in his face.  The rock pokemon fell over from the force of the attack, unconscious.

His final pokemon was a beautiful Vulpix.  For once, Lina eyed her opponent's pokemon with interest.  She called out a compliment to the Vulpix, saying that she had a beautiful coat.  Vulpix made a sound that resembled a purr of happiness.  Speaking in Vulpix, Lina told her that she didn't want to hurt her beautiful coat, so if she gave up and refused to fight now, she'd give Vulpix a nice glossy grooming session.  Being a vain pokemon at heart, Vulpix complied, against her master's wishes, and sat back, wagging her tail fitfully.  Lina nodded and told the referee that Vulpix was no longer willing to fight.  Seeing her laid back expression, the referee deemed it as such, declaring Lina the winner.

This time, after she was declared the winner, Lina jumped over the railing onto the field.  On the way towards Vulpix, she stroked Sandslash's head before recalling him to his pokeball.  When she reached Vulpix, she bent down and outstretched her hand.  Vulpix scurried up the length of her arm, and licked Lina's cheek.  Lina smiled and pet Vulpix's head as she began to walk out.  Halciform called out to her, asking where she thought she was going with his Rubia.  Lina turned to wink at him.  "Just a little brushing.  I'll return her, if you follow me."

After Lina's promised grooming, a very happy Vulpix returned to her trainer.  That night, Lina had a celebration dinner with Gourry and Luna at a buffet.  After feeding her pokemon, Lina slept fitfully, ready for her fifth match.  Battling with her for the role of the top eight finalists was a teenager by the name of Joy Rock.  Idly, Lina wondered how strong someone would be in the finals.  Well, she'd see.

Joyrock's first pokemon was Alakazam; Lina's was Charizard.  Alakazam started with a Psychic attack.  Pyro countered with a strong whirlwind tornado that threw off the waves as well as envelope his opponent.  However, Alakazam managed to teleport out and unleash a Tri beam attack.  Pyro flew to dodge this and attacked with Flamethrower.  Alakazam teleported away, onto Pyro's back.  This caught Pyro slightly off guard, but he reacted quickly by turning his head and headbutting Alakazam hard.  This caught Alakazam unawares as well, shown in the way that his eyes made swirls.  Pyro took this chance to buck Alakazam off, and then clutch him in his arms for a Seismic Toss.  When Alakazam made a crushing impact to the ground, followed by a complete roasting via Flamethrower, he didn't stand a chance.  Alakazam was down for the count.

The next pokemon chosen was Golduck, who immediately used Hydro Pump.  Once again, the water was guzzled down at a remarkable pace.  While Golduck was surprised, Pyro flew into fourth gear to tackle Golduck while fueling an extremely large ball of fire that surrounded his whole body, and now Golduck's as well.  When Pyro bit down on Golduck's side and threw him into the wall on the other side of the field, Golduck fainted.

His third pokemon was Mr. Mime.  Pyro used a Fireball split which swooped around its target, and then split into dozens of little fireballs to launch a flurry of them at the target.  Mr. Mime, preparing his Reflect screen in front of him, was not prepared for the surprise ambush.  As he turned to block it, Pyro flew into the sky, and so disappearing from Mr. Mime's view once the attack had stopped and he turned around.  Not knowing much else to do, Mr. Mime trapped himself inside a Barrier cube.  Taking a deep breath, Pyro began to spiral down before releasing a Flamethrower.  As the force of wind was going against him, Pyro became engulfed in flames, making him resemble a meteor as he crashed into Mr. Mime's barrier, destroying it in the process and sinking both of them into the ground.  Getting off, Pyro revealed a collapsed Mr. Mime.

Joyrock chose Machamp who dodged Pyro's instant Flamethrower as if it were nothing.  Something within Lina stirred, making her feel a bit more anxious than usual, but she ignored it to the best of her ability.  Taking a deep calming breath, she commanded, "PYRO!  FIRE GEYSER NOW!  FINISH HIM IN ONE ATTACK!"  After releasing several pillars of fire wherever Machamp had been, concentrating on that part, Pyro fulfilled every part of Lina's command.  Machamp had fainted.

The next to last pokemon for Joyrock was Wigglytuff.  Lina sweated, but calmly told Pyro to take to the skies again, high enough for Wigglytuff's song to not reach him.  When Pyro did as he was told, Wigglytuff found herself alone on the field, way beyond reach of her opponent.  And so, she decided to start singing, however, Pyro's huge fireball kept her from making everyone fall asleep.  Wigglytuff blinked through her charcoaled features.  Piping mad, she waggled a furious arm at the flying monstrosity (in her view).  This was met by a Flare Arrow – A Flamethrower broken up into several small "arrows" or streaks of fire.  Wigglytuff barely managed to dodge the first few, and so was caught on a bad foot with the second flurry.  Not wanting to be hurt anymore, Wigglytuff waved a white flag of surrender and jumped into its trainer's arms.  Lina breathed an unconscious sigh of relief.

Joyrock's final Pokemon was Clefable; an audible gasp spread throughout the crowd.  In an undertone, Lina commented, "Tch. That's nothing.  I have access to a whole family of Clefables and Clefairies."  Clefable attacked first with Metronome, which happened to be a Double Team attack, which wasn't really an attack at all.  Unfortunately, by lifting into the air a little bit and using a downward Fireball Split, he easily knocked the real one out of the loop and destroyed the copies.  This Clefable was resilient though, so it stood up and used Metronome again.  This time, it imitated a Vine Whip attack.  Pyro grabbed hold of both vines, and used them to catapult Clefable sky high.  Then, Pyro raced after it, held it in its arms, and did a Seismic Toss.  And yet, Clefable still stood up, but more slowly this time.  She wearily used Metronome again, which ended up being a Self-Destruct.  After the smoke cleared, Clefable was knocked out cold, while Pyro was slightly dirty, but easily standing.  Lina was declared the winner!

The announcer did his end of the battle commenting, "And Lina Inverse wins by another landslide!  Amazing!  By just using her Charizard, she has won her first official battle without breaking a sweat!"

Lina responded softly, "That's what _you_ think, but I'll let you keep thinking that."  Lina grinned as she returned Pyro to his pokeball before leaving an overly excited crowd.

A/N: *Yawn*  I think I'll stop here for this chapter.  Look forward to the next one!


	19. The Inevitable Conclusion

Ch19 – The Inevitable Conclusion

The Indigo Plateau Finals

            Time between Lina's first and second match passed by quickly.  Before she knew it, she was back at the official stadium, against someone named Mazenda, who was dressed in a formal red suit to match her hair and eyes.  To Lina, she appeared to be in her older teens, but at the same time had a sinisterly, mature quality to her.  The referee announced the start of the match when Mazenda's Kadabra came out to meet Lina's Victreebel.  Lina immediately sweated at seeing her opponent – Victor (Victreebel) was her weakest of her chosen armada.  However, she had to trust it – her reputation depended on it.

            Kadabra started off with a Psychic attack; Lina told Victor to block by using a Vine Whip Fan.  By spinning its vines rapidly in front of it, Victor was able to deflect the attack.  While it blocked, Lina told him to use the Triple Spin Razor Leaf, which ended up being played to perfection…if Kadabra had not teleported.  Thankfully, his return was just in time to be met with the Leaf Boomerang in which the leaves used for Razor Leaf were bunched together to look and act like a boomerang.  Kadabra received a massive headache that doubled when the boomerang came back for a second round.  Taking advantage of Kadabra inability to attack, Lina told Victor to use Poison Bite.  As Victor's teeth sunk into Kadabra, poison entered his opponent's body.  Before long, Kadabra was too weak to struggle, though he sent off a Confusion attack before fainting.  The crowd erupted into cheers; Lina wondered if their voices were hoarse at the end of every day for cheering so loudly, so much.

            The next battle was between Victreebel and Slowbro.  Victor started things off with another Leaf Boomerang.  To the surprise of everyone but Mazenda and Slowbro, Slowbro caught it easily and crushed it.  After doing so, Slowbro used Disable.  Fighting it off at the last second, Victor came out unscathed but wiped out.  Slowbro launched a Mega Punch that sent Victreebel flying, but not before Victor latched onto his opponent with Vine Whip.  Reeling in quickly, Victor met Slowbro with a, this time, _Sleep_ Bite which quickly put the pink pokemon to sleep.  Finishing it off with a Whip Toss (as in grabbing the opponent with Vine Whip and tossing it into the wall), Victor forced Slowbro to a state deemed as unable to battle.

            By the third battle, Mazenda was sweating with aggravation.  Absently, Lina wondered why, but she shook it off in order to confidently continue the match.  Mazenda's newest pokemon turned out to be a beautiful Ninetales, who lost no time in barbequing Victor to a crisp.  Upon blowing out a puff of smoke, Victor fell back and fainted.  Lina growled low in her throat as she returned Victor.  She brought the pokeball close to her face, and whispered to Victor, "We're going to have to work on that; you're a disgrace, being the first of my pokemon to faint during this tournament."  Out loud, she declared, "Pyro, show 'em what you've got!"

            When a Scyther popped out of her pokeball, Lina blinked in surprise.  She looked down at her pokeball, and exclaimed before hitting her forehead to punish herself for her stupidity.  She had not looked at which pokeball she was releasing it from – she didn't even recognize this pokeball.  Lina sighed, and decided to try her luck anyway.  The next sequence of events was spectacular indeed.

            Ninetales attacked Scyther with a Flamethrower; Scyther seemed to turn to ashes after the flame dispersed, which immediately drew everyone's attention.  Just then, a Vaporeon leaped forward from the black dust, and attacked Ninetales with an attack that could only be defined as a Water Blast (the equivalent to a Fire Blast down to the character formation the water took).  Caught unawares, Ninetales had been hit dead-on, no defense whatsoever.  In an instant, Ninetales was down and out.  Mazenda and Lina, as well as everyone else, stared at the Vaporeon, not believing their eyes.

            With a start, Lina's mind went back to something she remembered being told.  "It's in my Scyther's pokeball now." … Lina whirled and turned to the audience, where a smiling Gourry was waving towards her.  Lina let out a small laugh that became a little louder before she stopped it.  She gave a victory sign to Gourry, before turning back to her opponent.  Mazenda was on the ground, trembling with shock.  When both Ninetales and Mazenda suddenly turned to dust and scattered in a wind, it silenced the whole stadium.

            After a long pause, the announcer declared, "Um…As it seems that Mazenda is no longer present, by default, I announce Lina as the winner!"

            Slowly, the amount of applause increased from nothing to an uproar.  Lina breathed a sigh of relief and returned Vaporeon.  To her surprise, the ashes formed a Scyther again before it was sucked into the ball.  After the match, Lina made sure to give the Vaporeon back to Gourry.  Haughtily, she remarked, "I don't need anyone's help; I can win my matches by myself."  With a sidelong glance and a slight blush, she added softly, "But thanks anyway."  Lina stalked off alone at that point.

            Her next match came quickly.  A teenage boy by the name of Kyzeil, that wore the same sinister expression as Mazenda, walked into the opponent's trainer box.  Lina called out her Arcanine for this match, while Kyzeil chose Blastoise.  Arcanine showed everyone his amazing resistance to water attacks when he took a Bubble attack dead-on effortlessly.  While moving forward, he decided to use Take Down on Blastoise.  The Blastoise caught him, however, and threw Archie over his head.  Arcanine yelped when his enemy jumped and slammed into the poor dog-like pokemon.  Blastoise finished him off with a severe Hydro Pump into the farthest wall.  Not even one of a prized pokemon of Lina could have stood up to that.

            Lina snarled in frustration as she returned Archie in exchange for Raichu.  Making full use of his thunder attributes, Lina called for a Thunder attack.  To Lina's surprise, Blastoise dodged it easily.  From where he stopped, he turned his heel, bulldozed Raichu, and sent him flying, which forced Lina to return her second pokemon of the match.  Disgruntled, Lina selected Gyarados for her next pokemon.

            After a flurry of Skull Bashes and Bites, Gyarados ended it with a Dragon Rage attack.  Surrounded by ten monstrous images of rotating Gyarados, Blastoise became dizzy before being attacked by a torrent of red explosions.  The stadium spectators were blinded momentarily by the bright light of the attack, but when the dust dispersed, it was clear who the winner was – Gyarados.

            Lina stayed with Gyarados as Kyzeil unleashed a Tentacruel.  It tried to Poison Sting Gyarados, but Gary's Hydro Pump rendered them useless before hitting Tentacruel on his ruby-red jewel (^_^).  Gary then used an empowered Tail Whip to knock Tentacruel up and out of the stadium, to be crushed to the ground upon his return.  Kyzeil called back the fainted Tentacruel, with a confident smile still on his face.

He released Hitmonchan next.  By using very speedy movements, Hitmonchan would attack with a Thunderpunch here, then a few seconds later, there.  It was unquestionable that this attack effected Gyarados, but Lina was calm as she told Gary to just lie in the middle of the field curled up like a snail's shell.  Then, when Hitmonchan stopped for another punch, Gyarados unwound himself in a furious backlash, sending Hitmonchan all over the place like a pinball gone berserk.  Eventually, he stopped, and Gyarados' tail swatted him like a fly.

Fighter number four for Kyzeil was a Magmar, which Gyarados won over easily by scarfing him into his mouth, biting down, using Hydro Pump Mouth Wash, and spitting Magmar out.  The water-logged Magmar didn't stand a chance.

            Kyzeil released an Exeggutor with a smile of puzzling origins.  Lina knew it had to be a bluff, but she was still a bit worried.  She had Gyarados use Hyper Beam, but he really didn't need to use such intensity.  As soon as the attack hit him, he fainted which, in turn, gave Lina a false sense of security.  It was 5-2 in Lina's favor, but there was still one more opponent to go.

Kyzeil's final pokemon turned out to be an Alakazam.  Its opening move of Psybeam must have confused Gyarados, because it suddenly starting bashing itself into everything but his opponent.  Having been severely weakened by previous pokemon attacks, the self-inflicted hits forced Gyarados into an unconscious state.  Grimacing, Lina was forced to return him and use her fourth pokemon, Charizard.  Alakazam used Psybeam again, but it was not nearly as effective, considering that Pyro had taken to the skies to avoid it.  But then, Alakazam teleported to his back, and let him have a point-blank Psychic attack.

            As Lina clenched her fists, with her mind whirling in an attempt to come up with a quick plan, she heard a voice behind her taunt, "Oh, come now, Lina.  You're actually letting someone like _this_ get the better of you?"

            Lina swiftly turned to see Xellos watching her, from the top of her entrance-way.  Growling, she turned back and muttered, "Shut up.  Just wait and see.  I'll do this _my_ way, and win."

            As Charizard was spinning down to the ground, severely weakened by the attack, Lina commanded it to use Rage.  Alakazam had teleported back to the ground, and disappeared to another area just before Charizard released a Trailing Fireball.  Little did Alakazam know, this Fireball wouldn't stop until it hit its target.  Alakazam stopped, charred, just in time to receive Pyro's Charcoal Dragon Rage.  This attack had a much similar effect to Gyarados', but much more powerful and concentrated on one spot, not to mention that it was a darker black lance rather than a huge Mega Brand.  If you asked her, Lina would have no answer for you as to why that was; she just might say something like, "It gives Pyro a personal flare."  To conclude the semi-finals, Lina had won this match with surprising ease, in comparison to what she thought it would be like.  Little did she know, it would soon become apparent that it was the "calm before a storm."

            Afterwards, Lina went to a local buffet for contestants that had an All-You-Can-Eat-For Free deal.  This was like an endless abyss of happiness for Lina, but not exactly so for the caterers who had to make all the food.  To help out, Lina soon learned that her sister was working there part time, so that she could watch over Lina a bit more closely, cinching Lina's immediate lack of normal appetite.  Nevertheless, Gourry, as well as anyone else that they knew who happened to pass by, soon learned that Lina was at her most vulnerable state of mind during this time.  Therefore, Gourry was free to ask questions, dumb or not, and not get pounded for them.  But _only_ ask; Lina's barrier had not gone done so low that she would answer every single one of Gourry's questions without hesitation or thought.  For instance…

            "Hey Lina?"

            "Mm?" Lina had a glazed look in her eyes as she made her monosyllabic response.

            "Umm…I just remembered something…"

            "Good for you."

            Gourry ignored this and continued, lest he forget.  "Uh…why did you get all those badges for anyway?  I overheard someone say how you only needed eight badges to compete and you have like, fifty-something badges."

            "Don't exaggerate; I only collected eighteen.  And try not to use 'like' like that – you sound like the Cerulean Sisters."

            "I do?  Hm… I never really paid attention to how they talked but…Hey!  You're changing the subject on me!"

            Lina yawned in a tired way.  "Whatever.  If you must know, after this tournament is over and the next one begins, my sister is making me sell my remaining badges to the highest bidder at whichever market I decide on – black, flea, mini, whatever.  The more money I make for my sister, the less I have to work during summer and between tournaments.  When this is over, I'll go off and find somewhere where I can do the same, and I'll repeat the process.  That's all there is to it."

            It took a long period of eating, five plates to be exact, before Gourry finally pieced together, "So your sister is using you to earn more money?"

            Lina shrugged and responded, "I suppose you could put it that way."

            Gourry was quiet for a moment before asking, "Isn't that called blackmail or something?"

            The red-headed finalist stretched and shrugged again. "Maybe, maybe not.  Onee-san is my elder, and she takes care of me when I'm home, so I have to listen to her.  Besides, getting those badges is just another form of training, so I don't mind.  She told me that if I can bring home the ultimate title home with me, I get to spend a whole year with just my pokemon."

            The usually-clueless Gourry inquired, truly perplexed, "Doesn't that just mean she's kicking you out?"

            Without a second thought, Lina nodded.  "Of course.  I couldn't ask for anything better.  If that's the case, I can set up my own lifestyle and live on my own completely.  That way, I won't have any reason to be bounded to any one hometown."

            "…You have more than one?"

            "In a sense; Zephilia and Pallet.  I was born and spent my infant years in Zephilia.  That's where I learned to communicate with fire-pokemon; I left before I could learn the other dialects.  During a um.. small civil war, my sister and I crossed the sea to Pallet Town and settled down there for the next several years."

            When Gourry said nothing in response, Lina yawned and stood up.  "I think I'm going to go to sleep now; need to rest for the finals."

            "Lina…"

            "What?"

            "Have you looked outside yet?  It's not even past _noon_ yet."

            Lina gave Gourry a grumpy frown.  "What's your point?  I'm tired."

            A voice from behind Lina answered, "It'll ruin your sleeping pattern, Lina-chan."

            Lina jumped, even though she was already standing, and turned.  Xellos was sipping tea in the next booth over.  She growled at him for interrupting their previously short conversation.  "What are _you_ doing here?  This is for contestants only."

            To which Xellos calmly replied, "So what's Gourry-san doing here?"

            That stopped the girl in mid-speech, since she really didn't have an adequate answer.  In the end, she gave up trying to explain and then stalked out.  "Forget this, I don't care.  See you later Gourry; Hope I _don't_ see you Xellos."

            Xellos pouted as Gourry chuckled slightly.  The young ninja called to the retreating back of Lina, "You say that like you can control the future.  But you have to expect the unexpected in order to win this tournament."

            Lina did not respond as the door bell tinkled, and slammed shut behind her.

            To say that Lina was surprised by her final opponent, would have been an understatement, for she would have never guessed that _he_ would be her opponent.  She wasn't even aware that _he_ had pokemon to _use_.  The announcer started things off with a longer introduction than usual, as this would be the last viewed match – the winner would go on to face the elite four and the reigning champion.

            "Welcome to the Final match of the Indigo League Tournament everyone!"  The crowd erupted in cheers; as they died down, the announcer continued.  "Yes, we have witnessed countless spectacular battles in the last nine days, but I'm sure _this_ battle will top it all off!  In the red corner, we have our league favorite, Lina Inverse from Pallet Town!"  The crowds cheered even louder, and Lina waved back in response.

"During her matches, we have witnessed her amazing ability to communicate with her fire pokemon in their own language.  Not only is this rare to find in any person at all, but to have it in a child pokemon trainer, is phenomenal!  For most of her first matches, she made a lot of Total Knockouts with using only one pokemon per battle.  Even while struggling in the last few matches, she has shown extreme skill in the way that her pokemon were trained, obeying her every command.  Now in the Blue corner, we have Xellos Metallium."

There were some murmurs and talking, but he only received a light, unsure applause.  The announcer explained, "We have not seen Xellos until now, because his previous opponents throughout the tournament had not shown up for the match, thus allowing him to win by default.  He is from a ninja family, a relative of the Fuschia City Gym Leader.  As we have yet to see him battle, his technique and pokemon are a complete mystery to us, as it should be, with his ninja background.  Alright!  Let's get this show on the road!  Trainers!  Please select your first pokemon!"

Fired up, Lina chose Pyro as her naturally first pokemon.  Xellos chose Jynx with a polite flare.  Lina decided to use English with all of her commands.  "Pyro!  Let's heat things up with a nice, big Fireball!"

Softly, Xellos told his Jynx, "Dodge it just before it hits you."

Both pokemon did as they were told, ending up in a missed Fireball that came back for seconds and was again rejected.  Lina grimaced and switched to Fire-nese.  "Pyro! (Try Fire Spray!)"

Nodding, Pyro released another Fireball, but this one traveled quickly to the center of the field, and extended into a narrow pole about the width and height of an English lamppost.  From there, the fire immediately burst in all directions, sending a flurry of fire towards and around Jynx, preventing the ice pokemon from escaping the attack.  Xellos merely smirked as he watched his pokemon take the hit.  When the attack stopped, and the resulting dust cleared, it revealed a completely uninjured Jynx, smiling with her puffy lips.  Lina wasn't quick to be worried, but that didn't mean she couldn't be just a little perturbed…  No, she wouldn't lose hope; there was no way that she could lose hope so early in the game.  Not if her name was Lina Inverse.

Lina had Pyro attack with a close-up Flamethrower.  When he got close however, he was in for a lip-to-lip kiss.  Lina blushed while Pyro's flame was extinguished; within an instant, Pyro was sound asleep.  Shaking in shocked embarrassment, Lina returned Pyro to his pokeball.  Smiling cheerfully, Xellos returned his Jynx as well when Lina replaced Pyro with a Magmar.  He released an Ivysaur, which made Lina facefault.  Her immediate thoughts were, "Why on earth would he return a winning pokemon and replace it with a pokemon with a type disadvantage?  Oh well, better make use of it while I can."

"Magmar! (Fire Blast!)"

Once again, Xellos' pokemon allowed the attack to connect, but it still did not affect them.  Ivysaur shook it off as if it were nothing, before using Stun Spore.  Magmar did a spectacular jump in order to dodge it, but was unprepared when Ivysaur caught him with Vine Whip and reeled him back to Stun Spore range.  Unable to escape, Magmar twitched on the ground, paralyzed from fighting.  Lina groaned and returned her Magmar.  She looked across the way at Xellos to see him smiling just as happily as ever.  It was then that Lina realized his objective.  She called out to him to affirm this.

"Hey, Xellos.  Are you just doing this to…to embarrass me?"

If possible, Xellos' grin widened, but he waggled his finger in front of him.  "Not 'embarrass' _you_, Lina-chan.  Simply, how do I put it?  Render your pokemon useless."

Embarrassment gave way to anger as an eerie red glow emitted from Lina's body.  Raising her head, everyone saw the demon red glare that Lina gave Xellos.  Xellos' smile faltered a little, but he recovered relatively quickly.

Lina did not notice, for now she was piping mad.  "I'll _destroy_ you!  I've had it with this!  Sleepy!  I choose you!"

With that, Lina released a Snorlax onto the field.  The size of it was monstrous; it took up half the field with just its body.  Xellos grinned, and released his next pokemon nonchalantly.  Beside the enormous pokemon, now lay a tiny-in-comparison sleeping Abra.  As the two snored on, nothing happened before Lina began whistling the poke-flute tune, which was hard considering how angry she was.  But she did just enough to make Snorlax roll over on top of Abra.  She showed no surprise when Abra appeared again next to Snorlax, awake and breathing hard.  Lina whistled the tune louder now, and the Snorlax awoke completely.  She commanded it to use Toxic Gas.  As invariably as with a human the toxic smelly gas emitted from Sleepy's bottom.  Everyone groaned as they smelled the horrible scent.  Though supposedly used to the smell, even Lina wrinkled her nose.  Abra was knocked out by the scent, as well as half the audience, by the time it subsided; Xellos seemed to be the only one not affected at all.

Unchanging in expression, Xellos returned Abra, and waited patiently for everyone to recover before releasing his fourth pokemon, Weedil.  Lina blinked.  Her anger completely vanished in place of disbelief.  But it quickly returned as she exclaimed, "ARE YOU _KIDDING_ ME?!?!?!"

Xellos grinned at this and said in reply, "Why would I be 'kidding'?  This _is_ the final match; are you scared of a little Weedil?"

This only served to make Lina angrier as she commanded Snorlax to "squash the little bug."  When Snorlax's foot fell on the Weedil, there was a visible wince in the audience.  Suddenly, a large white light shined from underneath, and Snorlax had a clueless look on his face.  His face became very uncomfortable as he was forced to raise his foot by a large scale, tipping him off balance.  Where his foot had previously rested, was a Beedril, drill stinger facing up.  Lina suddenly understood Sleepy's actions, and it only annoyed Lina more.  She told Sleepy to use Hyper Beam, but Sleepy could only sit on his bottom holding his stomach.  His blue face was a tell-tale sign that he had been poisoned.  Lina groaned again, and drooped her head as she returned her fourth pokemon.

Lina was beyond irritated now.  She had four pokemon that could not fight for the duration of the match, while Xellos still had all of his pokemon.  Said Xellos interrupted her thoughts just then with, "Oh, don't give up Lina-chan!  You're closer to winning than you think!"

To which Lina replied, "YOU IDIOT!  WHO SAYS I'M GOING TO GIVE UP OR THINK I'M GOING TO LOSE?!  Gyarados go!"

Xellos grinned, and chose Magikarp, which, flopping uselessly on the ground, gave everyone a bad impression of him.  Lina retorted, "WHAT THE HECK DO YOU THINK YOU'RE TRYING TO _DO_ HERE ANYWAYS?!"

The purple-haired junior-ninja waggled his finger again and replied, "Now _that's_ a secret."  Very much annoyed, Lina went on the offensive. "If I could reach over there, I'd strangle you right now, Xellos.  Gyarados!  Dragon Rage!"

As the explosion hit, Magikarp stopped moving.  It lay there very still, but when the attack subsided, it began flopping again.  Before Lina or Gyarados could realize what had happened, Magikarp attacked with Flail.  Though one would think that such an attack would prove to be useless, it was quite the opposite in this case.  Gyarados made a pained roar before keeling over.  Lina looked to where Magikarp had made contact, and found that the area was scathed and bruised.  Lina's thought analysis determined that it was a burn.  Lina returned Gyarados reluctantly, and thought over her choices, but she had no other alternatives.  Lina took a deep breath and called for Dragu, her Dragonite.

With a roar, Dragu appeared on the field.  Xellos looked it up and down like an animal buyer.  Nodding, he returned Magikarp in exchange for his final pokemon, Dewgong.  Dewgong started things by freezing Dragu's head.  But it didn't affect him as he picked up Dewgong, and bashed his head into him.  Not only did the ice shatter, but Dewgong received a massive headache.  Then, Dragu lost no time in throwing Dewgong into the ground, and stomping on him.  When he got cold feet as a result, he moved his foot, and kicked Dewgong across the field with his other.  Xellos put a hand in front of him in all seriousness and told Lina to stop her pokemon.  When she asked why, Xellos replied with a formal bow.  "I've done what I came here to do, and so, I forfeit this match to you, Lina-chan.  You're too much for my pokemon."

Before Lina could protest, or even say something back, the referee announced her as the winner as a result of a forfeit.  The crowd cheered not for Lina winning only, but the tournament being over at last.

A/N: That's the end of it. ^_^  Oh, yeah, I should put an epilogue, huh?   Okay, see you in a week then.


	20. Epilogue and Ending Notes

Epilogue and Ending Notes

A/N: Phew!  I'm _tired_.  I've been writing the last of the chapters pretty close together, just to finish it.  Near the end, it felt more like for work than fun.  But soon, it'll all be over.  I might write a really short L/Z fic soon, so look for that if you want.  Lately, I'm trying to work on writing short stories that you can read in a single sitting, but it's hard to come up with a good plot that doesn't last long… well, here's the epilogue.

            After winning the final match, Lina was told to come back the next day to receive her trophy before going to meet the elite four and then the champion.  The audience was even larger than before, because all the participants were there as well.  As Lina stood on the small pyramid podium with the trophy, the crowd was alive with enthusiastic clapping, cheering, whistling, and all the other things that only a young audience could give you.

            During lunch that day, Lina couldn't help but sit and admire her trophy.  It was a fairly simple design, with a golden torch consisting of two large handles for holding and a pokeball covering the top.  Between the handles was the following inscription in big, bold letters: "On this day, Lina Inverse has earned the top position in the Official Pokemon League Tournament in the Kanto region.  May her name and pokemon be forever engraved in our historical Wall of Fame"

It was then signed by the head sponsor of the tournament.  Shining gold with perfect molding, Lina felt like it was one of a kind, though she knew that others had received similar trophies in the past.  But this one would stay with her forever, because it had _her_ name emboldened on it.

            Well, forever with her sister, who told her just then that she would be keeping it at home from now on.  Lina sighed, but accepted this as how her life would be run.  However, Luna _did_ add that since she did so well in the tournament, she would extend  that 'one year' to whenever she felt like coming home, if she also beat the elite four and past champion.  That is, if she promised to call or write a letter every regularly as well.  This was probably the best news that Lina could have received.  Five more wins to ultimate reign of her life.  Lina spiritedly agreed to do her very best to make her sister proud of her.  Luna frowned, but cracked a smile as she ruffled Lina's hair.  Upon parting, she replied, "You already have."

            Maybe it was just the fact that since her battle with Xellos, she was much more careful about the unexpected, but Lina found that the Elite 4 did not seem nearly as elite as she thought they would be.  Lorelei's ice and water pokemon were easily beaten with Lina's Raichu and Charizard.  Bruce, with rock, fighting, and ground types, was easily beaten with Lina's Gyarados and Charizard.  Lina's recent reunion with her old Abra (now an Alakazam), allowed her to make short work of Agatha and her poison-ghost types.  Lance was unquestionably the hardest, but after losing Raichu, Gyarados, and Pyro, Lina finally won with Dragu.  Now it was on to the champion.

            In the final room, she found someone she wasn't expecting – the renowned healing traveler, by the name of Rezo the Red (for his completely red outfit).  Some questioning was in order, with Lina asking the questions.  "Wait a minute, Zel told me you had died in a lab accident."

            Speaking in a very calm manner, Rezo replied, "You should not believe all that you are told, especially if told by those that resent the subject at hand.  Shall we begin?"

            Lina slowly nodded, and released her first pokemon, her faithful Charizard onto the field.  Rezo chose to fight with a Machoke, and attacked with an uppercut.  Charizard flew up of his own will, and came back down with a scorching Flamethrower.  Machoke barely dodged it, and caught Pyro in a headlock.  But as Pyro had arms as well, it grabbed Machoke's torso in a way that rendered his bottom set of arms useless as he took to the skies again for a Seismic toss.  Being a fighter, Machoke withstood it, but was still weakened.  Pyro used this chance to use a concentrated Mega Brand, which caught Machoke offguard, allowing him to be burnt into submission.

            Rezo said nothing as he switched to a Ninetales.  Lina had Pyro fly up again, to use a Wind boomerang, which the Ninetales dodged with deft ease, before releasing a skyward Flamethrower.  Pyro dodged this as well, and sent back a returning Flamethrower while he moved.  It was then that he was told to make a Rage shield before using another Seismic Toss.  However, Ninetales would not be taken so easily, and so chose to use Hyper Beam just before Pyro reached it.  Fortunately, his rage shield allowed the attack to only further strengthen his barrier, and thus made it easier to grab hold of Ninetales for a "roller coaster ride."  Having been reacquainted with its own Hyper Beam, along with a Raging Seismic Toss, Ninetales could only faint.

            The blind priest commended Lina on a job well done on her first two wins.  Now it was time for a black Tangela, twice the normal size.  Sure that this was in the bag, Lina told Pyro to just use a good Fireball.  But Tangela copied Lina's previous Vine Whip Fan, and deflected it.  Using their surprise, Tangela took the opportunity to tie Pyro's arms, legs, and wings and reel him in.  Unfortunately for Tangela, Pyro turned the retraction into a chance to make a point-blank Fire Blast hit dead-on.  Tangela didn't stand a chance.

            Upon returning Tangela to its pokeball, Rezo commented that Lina was doing very well, but she should not get excited just yet.  Lina replied that she wasn't, as he released a Ditto.  When Ditto turned into a Charizard, Lina did the only thing that would not be expected, and thus could not be copied to work for them.  "Pyro!  Let's do a Fire Geyser attack!"

            Though Rezo must have realized the potential uncertainty of such an attack, he had Ditto mimic it.  However, since the technique was really a spin off a Flamethrower, the attack resorted to its normal state, a concentrated spray of fire.  Ditto, on the other hand, was engulfed in a pillar of flame.  Pyro then controlled the other pillars placed randomly on the field to group together into one large one on Ditto.  Even a Fire-type would not escape such an attack unscathed.  As for the attack on Pyro, he switched to Rage-mode, and the Flamethrower became his armor.  When the fire around Ditto subsided, Lina saw that it had been reformed to its original pink mass.  She told Pyro to finish the tired mass with a well-placed Body Slam.  Pyro flew up a clear fifteen or so feet, and then soared down, elbow outstretched.  The little pink blob landed in the bowels of unconsciousness.

            Despite Rezo's warning, Lina was feeling more confident then she had going in, since the pokemon ratio was four down to none for her.  Rezo chose Mr. Mime as his fifth pokemon.  It immediately created a large barrier, which even _Pyro's_fire could not penetrate, though he tried.  Lina suddenly had an idea – she had not seen him use barrier _below_ him, so…"Pyro!  Mega Brand now!"

            The original attack worked, and, because he was trapped within his own barrier, Mr. Mime could not escape being fried from below.  However, he was still standing when the dust cleared.  He was breathing hard, but he was still standing.  Lina saw that the barrier was weakening as well, so she decided to try her luck.  "Pyro, Fire Spin!"

            A spiral of fire moved from Pyro's mouth to surround the barrier before squeezing tight on it.  The barrier held only for a few moments before the fire got through, scorching Mr. Mime again.  This time, Mr. Mime could not hold on, and fainted.  Now Lina couldn't keep it in.  She put her hands on her hips and proclaimed, "How's _that_?  I've beaten five out of your six pokemon!  I'm very close now to taking your title and becoming a Pokemon Master!"

            As Rezo returned Mr. Mime, his shoulders started shaking from his deep laughs.  When Lina asked to know what was so funny, he only responded, "It's nothing.  It's just that you say it with such confidence, it's hilarious."

            Pride hurt, Lina demanded to know why it was such a crazy idea to him.  Rezo's answer was releasing his final pokemon.  Lina could only gape at it in amazement.  In front of her Charizard, was what could only be the ancient body of an Aerodactyl, with red-pigment skin color, and demon-red eyes.  It was also at a height close to that of Lina's Dragonite.  Lina grimaced, but went ahead with her attack anyway.

Pyro tried to use Dragon Rage, but with Aerodactyl also being of the Dragon type, it did no good whatsoever.  In retaliation, Aerodactyl attacked Pyro with a Dragon Rage twice as powerful as Pyro's.  Weakened from using his energy in past fights without rest, Pyro fainted with this attack.  Lina thanked him for taking her this far, before releasing her next pokemon, Raichu, who used Thunder upon arrival.  Aerodactyl winced slightly at the attack, but then shook it off as if it were nothing.  Aerodactyl swooped down, and used Bite on Raichu, stopping the electric rat in its place.

Growling as she always was when things weren't going her way, Lina returned Raichu and chose Arcanine.  Effortlessly, Aerodactyl made a Rock avalanche from the cave room's walls.  Pummeled by rocks, Archie only had enough energy to jump out and on top of the stack, before fainting.  Starting to feel uneasy, Lina released Gyarados, who attacked with Hydro Pump.  Aerodactyl dodged it, and sent a Hyper Beam Gary's way.  Tired from the previous match, along with the sandy floor (compared to water), Gary could not get away in time to dodge it.  Hit straight-on, Gyarados toppled over, making a shaking crash upon meeting the ground.  Lina sighed and returned Gyarados.

She began to second guess herself.  Could she win this one?  Already, four of her pokemon had fallen to this ancient monstrosity.  With every attack, Lina had become increasingly suspicious of her Dragu.  Yes, she knew that since she had caught it, it should always listen and obey her, but lately…Lina just wasn't sure.  The first time she tried to command him, he looked at her with a glare that said quite plainly, "Why should I trust _you_, filthy human?"  Just as normally, Lina replied telepathically something along the lines of, "Because I caught you, and so, if you want to be fed, you should listen to what I say."  But the thing was, Lina was afraid of this pokemon.  She couldn't bare to release it to even let it eat.  Lina was forever afraid that it would either turn on her during a match, or run away and work for her enemies.  She had been lucky so far, but she knew that at some point, her luck would run dry.  After all, even _leprechauns_ that she had read about in books, which subject to gaining some bad luck instead of good.

But no, she shook her head, dispelling such thoughts.  She had a goal to strive for – She was just one pokemon victory away from getting it, too.  She _had_ to trust her instincts, if she wanted her freedom.  Yes, Lina convinced herself.  Let freedom be my confidence.  If Dragu sees my confidence, it will be less likely to turn on me.  Yes, one more faint, and she would be free of her sister for unlimited freedom – until she decided to go back.

Taking a deep, confiding breath, Lina released Dragu onto the field.  She acted quickly, first having Dragu counter Aerodactyl's Dragon Rage with a strong Gust, before using Hyper Beam.  Unfortunately, the Hyper Beam became lost in the small tornado, and veered off course.  With utmost concentration, Dragu managed to make it bounce off the rocky walls and into Aerodactyl from behind.  Like a shot bird in the sky, it spiraled down, and landed with a flop on the ground.  Dragu took in a deep breath, and used his own Dragon Rage to make sure that Aerodactyl had been defeated, and he was.  Rezo was stupefied with surprise, he had not expected Aerodactyl to be defeated, but eventually resigned to the idea.  He congratulated Lina and told her to follow him to the next room, the Hall of Fame, after they both returned their pokemon.

…And so, the story of Pokemaster Lina comes to a close.  As promised, Lina had her name placed in the Hall of Fame, along with all of her pokemon – Dragu had to bend down, but he had a pleasant smile.  Also, Lina handed over her trophy for winning the tournament to her older sister, Luna Inverse, and decided to embark on a new adventure, to simply wander the lands, catching rare and common pokemon alike to sell for money, as well as earning badges, also for the money.  Having nothing better to do, Gourry followed her, and Lina immediately asked upon hearing this to trade his Vaporeon for a Weedil.  Knowing full well the superiority of his Vaporeon, Gourry completely rejected this offer, but they continued to happily travel together.

As it would turn out, they would not see any of their closer companions such as Zel, Amelia, or even Xellos, for quite some time, but with food in her stomach, strong pokemon at hand, and money in her pouch, Lina "somehow" survived.

Ending A/N:  Well, that's that.  End of story.  Fin~  Hope you enjoyed it.  I realize that my Slayers timeline for this story was a bit off, but I just put certain people and "related" events where I thought them to be appropriate.  I don't wish to add my usual character summary, so I won't.  *Sigh*  So…tired…must…sleep. ~~_I_~~__


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